Special Olympics Salesman

When it comes to selling the Special Olympics World Games, Timothy Shriver has no equal. The son of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Shriver spends much of his time convincing corporations and individuals to buy television advertising time during the opening ceremonies of the games. 

Shriver was President of the World Games in 1995, an organization set up to sell the games, and his commitment stems from a family tradition begun the 1960s, when Eunice Kennedy invited her mentally retarded sister, Rosemary, and other adults and children with the same condition, over to her house to swim. Such physical activity was to turn into a much bigger event in 1968 with the advent of the Special Olympics, and now her son, Timothy, carries the torch. Last year he was behind the drive to bring the World Games to New Haven, Connecticut, where more than 7,000 athletes from 144 countries took part. Shriver, 35, has abandoned the premise that the mentally retarded need pity and charity, and has been responsible for the burgeoning growth of the sponsorship dollars in the event. Through snagging product endorsement, entertainment and corporate exposure, Shriver has made the Special Olympics, held every four years, an extremely successful venture. 

“I can only say that the Games were the thrill of a lifetime. I was more inspired by the athletes than anyone can imagine. To be able to engage in such an important mission and one which is so clearly just and urgent is all that anyone can ask. It was almost overwhelming,” Shriver told Irish America. 

Timothy Shriver is also a teacher, and studies philosophy and theology.