KARACHI, Aug 9: There was a need for government patronage of games of special children as was the practice in western countries, declared Imran Khan while speaking at the Special Olympics day here on Saturday.

Imran praised the commendable performance of special children in World Olympics in Dublin and said that they were far ahead of normal athletes of Pakistan who never took such a large number of medals in Olympic Games.

Cricketer-turned politician Imran said that there were many people in Pakistan ready to help handicapped children and maintained that 75% of the income for his Shaukat Khanam Memorial Cancer Hospital was generated through donations within the country.

He praised the services of organisers of Special Olympics Pakistan and said that the initiative they have taken was a noble step and more people should come forward. Parents of special athletes present on the occasion urged the government to adequately implement 2% job quota for the handicapped.

Chairman, Special Olympics Pakistan Saeed Ahmad said that by the help of exercises and participating in games many children returned to normal life. He said that the only thing was the proper care of the handicapped children.

Special children from Pakistan garnered 89 medals in seven of the eight disciplines they participated in, 40 of them gold.

What made the victories sweeter were the fact that apart from football, there was equal participation from both sexes in every sports: basketball, aquatics, athletics, tennis, table-tennis, badminton and bocce. Male and female athletes won almost equal number of medals in the games.—PPI