Though the first ever International Special Olympics Games were held in 1968 at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois, drawing 1,000 athletes from 26 states and Canada, the International Winter Special Olympics Games did not begin until 1977. However, with the leadership and support the Special Olympics movement gave to the notion of an International Winter Special Olympics Games, it wasn’t long before the thought grew into a reality.

• Feb. 5-11, 1977 - The first International Winter Special Olympics Games are held in Steamboat Springs, Colorado where more than 500 athletes compete in skiing and skating events. The Games receive national media coverage from major television affiliates including CBS, ABC and NBC.
• March 8-13, 1981 - The second International Winter Special Olympics Games are held at the Village of Smugglers’ Notch and Stowe, Vermont with more than 600 Alpine and cross country skiers and ice skaters participating.
• March 24-29, 1985 – Athletes from 14 countries are represented in skiing and skating events at the third International Winter Special Olympics Games in Park City, Utah.
• April 1-9, 1989 – The fourth International Winter Special Olympics Games are held in Reno, Nevada and Lake Tahoe, California. More than 1,000 athletes from 18 countries participate.
• March 20-27, 1993 – The fifth Special Olympics World Winter Games are held in Salzburg and Schladming, with 1,600 athletes from more than 50 countries participating in five winter sports. These are the first World Winter Games held outside North America.
• March 4-11, 2001 – The sixth Special Olympics World Winter Games are held in Anchorage, Alaska hosting more than 1,800 athletes from 70 countries competing in seven Olympic-type winter sports.
• Feb. 26-March 5, 2005 – The seventh Special Olympics World Winter Games are held in Nagano, Japan—the first World Games held in Asia. The Games draw more than 1,800 athletes from 84 countries and thousands of families, volunteers, spectators and journalists from around the world.
• Feb. 6-13, 2009 – The eighth Special Olympics World Winter Games in Boise, Idaho!