International Virtus Sports Federation

Virtus Sport (formerly INAS or INAS Sport) (International Sports Federation for Persons with Intellectual Disability; originally called INAS-FMH, later INAS-FID, INAS and now as Virtus Sport) is a federation which was established in 1986 by professionals in the Netherlands who were involved in sport and wanted to promote the participation of athletes with mental handicap in elite sports (intellectual impairment).

Not to be confused with Special Olympics.

Virtus Sport (INAS)
Founded1986
TypeNot for Profit Organisation for Intellectual Disability
FocusSport, disability
Location
  • UK
Area served
Worldwide
Members
c. 500,000
Key people
President — Marc Truffaut (France)
Executive Director — Nick Parr (UK)
Websitehttps://www.virtus.sport/
Formerly called
INAS-FID, INAS-FMH
Member of International Paralympic Committee

The organisations brand name is the Virtus promoting sport worldwide for athletes with intellectual disability, autism and Down syndrome.[1]

Names
  1. INAS-FMH :1986-1994
  2. INAS-FID - International Sports Federation for Persons with an Intellectual Disability (INAS-FID): 1994-?
  3. INAS - International Sports Federation for Persons with Intellectual Disability: ? - 2019
  4. Virtus Sport: 2019-present

History

The founding meeting of the first Executive Committee took place in January 1986 and the organisation became a member of the ICC – the International Coordinating Committee – the organisation that later became the International Paralympic Committee.

INAS' original membership was just 14 nations which has steadily grown into c.80 nations today.

In 1989, the 1st World Games for Athletes with an Intellectual Disability were held in Harnosand, Sweden and in 1992, immediately after the Barcelona Paralympic Games, the first Paralympic Games for 'Persons with mental handicap' were held in Madrid.[2]

In 1994, INAS-FMH became INAS-FID – the 'International Sports Federation for Persons with Intellectual Disability' and in 1996, for the first time, a small programme of events for athletes with an intellectual disability was included in the Paralympic Games in Atlanta.

A larger programme including Athletics, Swimming and Basketball was included in the Sydney Paralympic Games in 2000, but it soon emerged that a small number of athletes had cheated the system of determining eligibility, resulting in the suspension of events — a suspension that was to remain in place until 2012.

Despite exclusion from the Paralympic Games, the Inas sport programme continued to grow considerably to incorporate more than 10 sports whilst its membership grew to cover all 5 continents.

INAS provides competition opportunities for elite athletes with an intellectual disability in Paralympic and non-Paralympic sports and is different from Special Olympics, which provides non-elite opportunities worldwide.

Eligibility and classification

Athletes with an intellectual disability are characterised by an IQ of 75 or below, significant limitations in Adaptive Behaviour and the disability must be present before the age of 18. This is based on the American Association for Intellectual and Developmental Disability definition of Intellectual Disability.

Approximately 1.5% of the population is thought to have an intellectual disability.

Recognized Sports

Sports:[3]

Core Sports
  1. Athletics
  2. Basketball
  3. Cricket
  4. Cycling
  5. Equestrian
  6. Football/Futsal
  7. Judo
  8. Rowing
  9. Skiing
  10. Swimming
  11. Table Tennis
  12. Tennis

Partnerships With International Federations
  1. Golf
  2. Karate
  3. Para-Hockey
  4. Sailing
  5. Taekwondo

Current activities

Today's sport programme includes some 15 annual events, and more than 4000 athletes are registered to compete at an international level, whilst many hundreds of thousands of people with an intellectual disability have the opportunity to enjoy sport through the work of member organisations.

Following a partnership between INAS and the International Paralympic Committee to overhaul the process of determining athlete eligibility, events for athletes with an intellectual disability were re-instated to the Paralympic programme by the IPC General Assembly in November 2009, in preparation for the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

In 2019, INAS rebranded as Virtus.

  • Portugal,
  • podium, 2024

Events

INAS World Championships
  • Main article : INAS World Championships[4]
NumberEventFirst EditionLast Edition
Main Sports
1INAS World Athletics Championships (Outdoor, Indoor)1989, 200110th (2017), 9th (2016)
2INAS World Cross Country Championships20029th (2017)
3INAS World Half Marathon Championships20068th (2018)
4INAS World Swimming Championships19896th (2017)
5INAS World Cycling Championships199910th (2018)
6INAS World Rowing Championships (Outdoor, Indoor)2014, 20092nd (2015), 4th (2015)
Team Sports
8INAS World Basketball Championships199410th (2017)
9INAS World Cricket Championships20112nd (2015)
10INAS World Football Championships19947th (2018)
11INAS World Futsal Championships20122nd (2017)
12INAS World Handball Championshipsno yetno yet
13INAS World Hockey Championships (Field Hockey)no yetno yet
Winter Sports
14INAS World Ski Championships (Alpine, Nordic)20099th (2017)
Other Sports
15INAS World Equestrian Championships20171st (2017)
16INAS World Table Tennis Championships19957th (2017)
17INAS World Tennis Championships20047th (2018)

Note : INAS do not organise events in Taekwondo but work in partnership with World Taekwondo World Para Taekwondo Championships.

INAS Global Games

In 2004 INAS launched a new multi-sport competition INAS Global Games (INAS World Games / Intellectual Disability Global Games). The first event took place in Bollnäs, Sweden and featured more than 1000 athletes. The second Global Games took place in Czech Republic in 2009. With the re-inclusion of athletes with an intellectual disability into Paralympic competition, it was decided to move the Global Games to the year preceding the Paralympics. The next Global Games therefore takes place in 2011. After a bidding procedure, Italy was chosen as the host nation. The 2015 Global Games took place in Guayaquil, Ecuador, in September. The 2019 INAS Global Games will take place in Brisbane, Queensland Australia.[6]

No.YearDatesCity and host countryChampionSportsEventsCountries
1 2004 July Bollnäs, Sweden  Poland 6 40
2 2009 7 - 11 June Liberec, Czech Republic  Australia 9 34
3 2011 26 September - 4 October Loano, Italy  Australia 9 30
4 2015 20 - 27 September Quito, Ecuador  Australia 8 35
5 2019 12–19 October Brisbane, Australia  Australia 11

Results : http://www.inas.org/events/results Archived 24 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine

2023: https://www.virtus.sport/2023-vichy-france

900 athletes from 47 nations

Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Peru, and the Solomon Islands = debut

13 sports

athletics, basketball, cycling, equestrian, futsal, handball, judo, karate, rowing, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, and tennis.

Karate, judo, and equestrian = debut at GG2023

France 189 medals (88 gold, 56 silver and 45 bronze)

Australia with 125 medals (42 gold, 41 silver and 42 bronze)

Italy with 87 medals (30 gold, 27 silver and 30 bronze)

Results 2023: https://c3k8ff.n3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Results-GG2023.pdf

Regional Games

Source:[7][8]

European Championships

Source:[9][10][11][12]

Members (28 nations in 2019):[13]

Sports:[14]

Euro Web:[15]

  1. Athletics: [16]
  2. Swimming: [17]
  3. Futsal/Football : [18]
  4. Basketball: [19]
  5. Handball: [20]
  6. Table Tennis: [21]
  7. Other Sports (Cycling,Rowing,Judo,Skiing,Tennis,Equestrian): [22]

INAS European Games
  • Main article : INAS European Games
No.YearDatesCity and host countryChampionSportsEventsCountries
1 2018 14 - 22 July Paris, France 7 + 2 TBD
2 2022 CRACOW, TBD

Results: http://www.inas.org/event/2018-inas-european-games?instance_id=76 Archived 28 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine

https://web.archive.org/web/20191221125831/http://www.inaseurope.org/index.html

1st Virtus European Winter Games, Zakopane 2024 (2020 was cancelled)

http://www.virtuseurope.eu/other-sports.html

http://www.virtuseurope.eu/synthesis.html

http://www.virtuseurope.eu/athletics.html

http://www.virtuseurope.eu/swimming.html

http://www.virtuseurope.eu/index.html

1st European Winter Games (skiing, rowing, futsal, basketball 3x3) 2 March - 8 March 2024 Zakopane (Poland)

INAS Asia-Pacific Games

1st Virtus Oceania Asia Games 2022, 5-11 November (OA Games) - Australia [23]

Inaugural Virtus Oceania Asia Games:

Sports:[24]

  1. Athletics - Paralympic Pathway
  2. Badminton - Demonstration Sport
  3. Basketball
  4. Cycling - Track & Road Cycling
  5. Judo
  6. Rowing - On-Water & Indoor Rowing
  7. Sailing - Para Sailing International Championship
  8. Swimming - Paralympic Pathway
  9. Table Tennis - Paralympic Pathway
  10. Taekwondo
  11. Triathlon - Demonstration Sport

Nations:[25]

20 countries:

   Australia
   Brazil
   Colombia
   Ecuador
   Fiji
   France (including Wallis & Futuna, New Caledonia)
   Hong Kong
   India
   Indonesia
   Islamic Republic of Iran
   Japan
   Macau
   Malaysia
   Maldives
   New Zealand
   Republic of Palau
   Papua New Guinea
   Philippines
   Republic of Korea
   Singapore
   Chinese Taipei
   Thailand
   Great Britain
   United States of America

Events:[26]

Medals:[27]

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Australia948343220
2 Japan25131553
3 Hong Kong917733
4 Iran4228
5 India4037
6 South Korea3036
7 Malaysia2237
8 Chinese Taipei15511
9 Singapore1304
10 Indonesia12811
11 New Zealand12710
12 Philippines1203
13 Fiji0123
14 Macau0011
 Thailand0011
Totals (15 entries)146132100378

Solomon Islands = one silver

Republic of Palau = no medal

INAS African Games

No Yet.

INAS Pan American Games

2026 in Peru , Inaugural 2026 Virtus Americas Regional Games [28]

See also

References
  1. "High performance sport for athletes with an intellectual impairment". inas.org. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  2. DePauw, Karen P; Rich, Sarah (Winter 1993). "Paralympics for the mentally handicapped". Palaestra. Vol. 9, no. 2. pp. 59–64.
  3. https://www.virtus.sport/sports
  4. "Events and competitions for athletes with an intellectual impairment". inas.org. Archived from the original on 26 November 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  5. "International Federation for Intellectual Impairment Sport: Global Games". inas.org. Archived from the original on 14 November 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  6. "Inas Global Games 2019". www.inasglobalgames.org. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  7. https://www.virtus.sport/regional-games
  8. http://www.virtuseurope.eu/
  9. http://www.virtuseurope.eu/synthesis.html
  10. https://web.archive.org/web/20240000000000*/http://www.inaseurope.org/index.html
  11. https://web.archive.org/web/20240000000000*/http://www.virtuseurope.eu/
  12. https://web.archive.org/web/20210612133104/http://www.virtuseurope.eu/
  13. http://www.virtuseurope.eu/members.html
  14. https://web.archive.org/web/20210422114931/http://www.virtuseurope.eu/sports.html
  15. https://web.archive.org/web/20220723200734/http://www.virtuseurope.eu/
  16. https://web.archive.org/web/20220723200335/http://www.virtuseurope.eu/athletics.html
  17. https://web.archive.org/web/20220723200343/http://www.virtuseurope.eu/swimming.html
  18. https://web.archive.org/web/20220723200345/http://www.virtuseurope.eu/futsal-football.html
  19. https://web.archive.org/web/20220723200343/http://www.virtuseurope.eu/basketball.html
  20. https://web.archive.org/web/20220723200344/http://www.virtuseurope.eu/handball.html
  21. https://web.archive.org/web/20220723200344/http://www.virtuseurope.eu/table-tennis.html
  22. https://web.archive.org/web/20220723200343/http://www.virtuseurope.eu/other-sports.html
  23. https://oagames2022.org/
  24. https://oagames2022.org/sports/
  25. https://oagames2022.org/the-countries/
  26. https://oagames2022.org/event-schedule/
  27. https://oagames2022.org/medal-tally/
  28. https://www.virtus.sport/peru-to-host-inaugural-2026-virtus-americas-regional-games
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