ESPN wrapped up its coverage of the ’19 Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, bringing to an end what the net’s KEVIN NEGANDHI believes was a successful eight days of events and production. This was Negandhi’s fourth time hosting the Special Olympics, which has become one of his favorite duties at ESPN. He arrived on location last Monday and has been on the go ever since. After a long day of hosting this week, Negandhi took a few minutes to speak to THE DAILY to shed some light on how ESPN approaches covering the Special Olympics and how the United Arab Emirates fared as a first-time host.
Q: Why do you enjoy hosting the Special Olympics?
Negandhi: The job is so satisfying and rewarding. Afterwards you’re exhausted but at the same time you’re smiling because everybody pours everything into it. These sports give the athletes an identity, a thing where they can be themselves and their confidence grows. They come on the set and they talk to me and they’re engaged. They all go back home and they’re heroes. It’s not just these windows of these games. The communities that they’re in support them and show them all the love that they deserve.
Q: What was your experience like off-set?
Negandhi: I was at the Grand Mosque a couple days ago and toured around. We’ve experienced some local flavor at a couple of restaurants, had some Lebanese food. My parents are from India, I’ve been to Dubai before and this part of the world. It brings me back. Mumbai is a three-hour flight. I’m fully aware of how close I am to going back and seeing some family members. It just reminds me of how global we are as a company, how global these games can be.
Q: How have Abu Dhabi and the United Arab Emirates done as hosts?
Negandhi: I had some questions. There’s that unknown about the United Arab Emirates as they try to change people’s minds and expand and clearly showcase that this could be a country that could one day down the road host the Olympics. The Opening Ceremony was one of the best performances and ceremonies I’ve ever seen. It was on an Olympic scale. They wanted to make sure they put on a show. The facilities here, the Abu Dhabi TV, the production capabilities, they want to make sure that they could tell the whole world, "We’re adaptable, we want to be a player in the game."
Q: Were there any challenges working in the country?
Negandhi: It’s a learning experience. We’re in a place that’s trying to break barriers when it comes to how they're labeled. We’re in a place where you’re following completely different rules. It’s given us a point to be mindful and respectful. I would never wear shorts outside the hotel, and temperatures are in the 80s. It’s just being mindful of those types of things. It hasn’t hindered us in how we’re doing anything. The access that they’re given us has been very good.
Q: What does the future of the Special Olympics look like?
Negandhi: One of the things that this country has done is establish a standard. I started hosting these games in L.A. in '15. Never in my mind would I have thought that four years later that we’d be able show multiple venues with multiple cameras at those venues, highlighting sporting events. The idea that we could showcase Olympic-style events on the ESPN app from the World Games, to me, is mind-blowing. Everywhere you go there are signs: “Lead The Determined.” That’s how they’ve labeled athletes and people with intellectual disabilities: “The Determined.” You see it everywhere. When you can set the bar that way, with an entire county embracing it everywhere you turn. You see it on huge buildings, billboards, buses, taxi cabs.
