PHOTOS: President travelled to Berlin with the Hungarian Special Olympics team

President Katalin Novák has traveled to Berlin to participate in the opening ceremony of the Special Olympics World Games.

Novák will lead Hungary’s 77 Special Olympians into the stadium in Saturday evening’s ceremony. She is the first president to accompany a Hungarian Special Olympics team. The president on Saturday opened a new exhibition of the Hungarian embassy presenting the history of Hungary’s Special Olympics movement through the works of Hungarian painter Gyorgy Soós and Chinese painter Wei Xiang, who lives in Hungary and is a major supporter of the Special Olympics association.

Lajos Lengyel, president of Special Olympics Hungary, said at the exhibition’s opening that the president’s attendance would give “great motivation” to the Hungarian athletes, which they would repay with “a slew of medals”. He said Novák’s backing of the Special Olympics movement showed that she stayed true to her promise to support those in need and those with disabilities.

Hungary’s Special Olympics movement comprises over 1,000 licenced athletes. The 16th Special Olympics World Games in Berlin will feature some 7,000 athletes from 200 countries competing in 26 disciplines. The Hungarian athletes are set to compete in 15 disciplines.

Here are some photos:

She also met with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier: