Twenty years after the first Special Olympics Iowa summer games, Ames and Iowa State will host the first-ever Special Olympics National Summer Games in 2006.

With a number of Iowa dignitaries, including Sen. Tom Harkin, in attendance, the announcement was made Monday in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union before a crowd of more than 200 people.

“We’ve developed a warm spot in our heart for special athletes,” said Ames Mayor Ted Tedesco.

Tedesco and ISU President Gregory Geoffroy said a joint bid, submitted in February by the Ames Convention and Visitors Bureau and ISU Conference Services, to host the event was successful because of a long history of partnership between the city and the university.

“This is truly an excellent example of what we can accomplish when we work together,” Geoffroy said.

Timothy Shriver, president and chief executive officer of Special Olympics, said Iowa has a long history of supporting the disabled in programs like the Special Olympics.

“The great news is that more than 3,000 athletes will come [to Ames],” he said. “They will come to celebrate the singularly important human idea that ‘Everybody counts.'”

In 1990, Harkin wrote the American with Disabilities Act, legislation that ensures rights for more than 50 million U.S. citizens with mental and physical impairments.

“Even though we’ve passed a lot of legislation … we still have a ways to go,” he said.

“[We’ve said] ‘No’ to determination by others and ‘Yes’ to determination by the individual about how they’re going to live their lives.”

Shriver said it made a lot of sense to hold the 2006 event in Ames.

“We saw a very strong state program,” he said. “[The location] presents us with not only fantastic facilities, but an organized community.”

Harkin also highlighted the work of volunteers and officials from Iowa State, Ames and Special Olympics Iowa in making a successful bid. “A lot of people have worked very hard to make this special dream become a reality,” he said.

The state finals of Special Olympics Iowa have been hosted by Ames and Iowa State since 1986.

Rich Fellingham, president and chief executive officer of Special Olympics Iowa, highlighted the hard work his organization has done in past years preparing global messengers, who are special athletes trained to speak and promote Special Olympics worldwide.

One of those global messengers, Kim Lively of Ames, said she had been involved in Special Olympics for about five years.

“It’s going to be exciting to have it in Ames,” she said. Lively said she has participated in the 50-yard dash, softball and bowling, and that she hoped she could compete in the national summer games.

“I’m hoping,” she said.

Shriver said he thought the national Special Olympics games would operate on a two or four year cycle. The impetus to create a national event, Shriver said, came from increasing participation by other countries in the Special Olympics World Games, which meant U.S. athletes had fewer opportunities beyond the state level of competition.

“For years, athletes in the United States have said it is time to have a national games,” he said.

Officials estimated the Ames area would host between 10,000 and 15,000 people for the 2006 event and generate about $6 million in revenue.