Athletes for the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games can receive free medical checkup under a program called Healthy Athletes guided by the Special Olympics International.

The program, developed in 1996 and globally implemented since, is designed to help Special Olympics athletes improve their health and fitness, leading to enhanced sports experience and improved well-being.

"The people with intellectual disabilities will have more trouble than the normal ones," said Steven Perlman, the founder of the Special Olympics Special Smiles. "Since they are slow in action or unable to express, the doctors around the world are unwilling to take care of them."

"So the Healthy Athletes can serve as an occasion when licensed health care providers check them up."

The 7,291 athletes from 164 countries and regions at the 2007 Special Olympics will be encouraged to receive these health assessments which span across six areas, namely Fit Feet, FUNfitness, Healthy Hearing, Health Promotion, Opening Eyes, and Special Smiles, he said.

At Shanghai Special Olympics, the Healthy Athletes is being conducted over the whole course of the Oct. 2-11 event in the Special Olympics Town, which is located at northern Shanghai's Jiangwan Stadium.

Besides the specialists, hundreds of volunteers are also available and help ensure those athletes with intellectual disabilities receive these screenings in a welcoming, fun environment.

According to the data released by the Special Olympics International, the program has been developing fast in the world and 600 screening events took place last year, with nearly 135,000 athletes receiving at least one screening.
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(Xinhua News Agency October 6, 2007)