ver Cuevana 3. The Special Olympics Athlete Oath is “Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me brave in the attempt.” It has come to embody the movement started by the late Eunice Kennedy Shriver in 1962 with a summer camp in her Maryland backyard. Her daughter Maria Shriver shines a light on the creation of the organization now made up of more than 4.5 million athletes all over the world.