Page 51 - Revised Unified Sports Curriculum electronic version Rev. 8.1_2

ATHLETICS SPORT RULES

against each other. This event may be held as its own Unified Sports Athletics competition or may be
held within a Special Olympics athletics competition.
Roster Size and Coaches
Team Roster Size: A team roster consists of no more than 20 participants. The roster shall
contain an equal number of athletes and partners.
Each team shall have an adult non-playing coach responsible for the lineup and conduct of
the team during competition.
Official Events and Entry Requirements
Following are the recommended events which may be offered at Unified Team Athletics
competitions:
Track Events:
100 Meters
200 Meters
400 Meters
800 Meters
1500 Meters
Field Events
Shot Put
Running Long Jump
Mini-Javelin
Relay Events
4 x 100 Meter Relay
4 x 400 Meter Relay
Each participant on a team may be entered into a maximum of three events including relays.
Teams are not required to enter participants in all events.
For relay events, teams must consist of two Special Olympics athletes and two Unified partners.
Coaches can place their runners in any order.
Divisioning
All Special Olympics athletes and Unified partners on Unified Sports Athletics teams compete
against each other in their competitive divisions. These divisions consist of athletes and partners
who are of similar ability levels. This is determined by qualifying times in track events or
distances in field events.
Team Scoring
Participants score points for their Unified Athletics team based upon their final place of finish in
nd
rd
every event competition division. 1 place scores 5 points, 2 place scores 3 points, 3 place
st
scores 1 point.
This is a team competition. The place of finish is determined by adding together the points
earned by all of the participants on the team for its final score. The team with the most amount
of points finishes in first place.

15 VERSION: June 2018
© Special Olympics, Inc., 2018
All rights reserved