I Love Special Olympics Review

(This airs again on Friday, July 20, and Sunday, July 22)
It’s a week until the Olympic Games kicks-off and it’s fair to say that people have been going a bit bananas. Folk everywhere have been clammering for a glimpse of the Olympic torch, G4S Security have admitted to everything but failing to organise a piss-up in a brewery and Channel 4 put out [an] excellent, if not bombastic advert to promote the Paralympics.
But if you’re one of the many who has failed to take on board the official message of “be really excited, but stay at home”, BBC4 have put out an excellent documentary about athletes, but without any of the enforced hype. There’s no big names with sponsorship deals here, as it focuses instead on the lesser known event of the Special Olympics.
For the uninitiated, the Special Olympics are not to be confused with the Paralympics. Whilst the Paralympics is for athletes with all manner of disabilities, the Special Olympics is specifically focused on those with intellectual disabilities. In I Love Special Olympics, film-maker Thomas Leader introduces us to four athletes as they prepare for the competition.