Special Olympians head for winter games
Eight athletes are jetting off from Ireland to Japan tomorrow with high hopes of success at the Special Olympics World Winter Games.
The athletes from across Ireland will be participating in three Alpine skiing events – the slalom, downhill slalom and giant slalom.
Frances Kavanagh, Director of Sport at Special Olympics Ireland, said the team was very confident that the athletes would do well.
“They are the best prepared team we’ve ever sent to the winter games.
“They are really, really excited to be going and so focused it’s incredible.”
“They will all be hoping to achieve personal bests and we know they are all going to do very, very well,” she said.
Four of the competitors – Lorraine Whelan, from Wicklow, Ryan Hill, from Co Armagh, Warren Tate, from Co Dublin, and Cormac Maguire, from Dublin – are at intermediate level for the games.
The remaining four – Fiona Bryson, from Co Dublin, Cyril Walker from Co Armagh, and Finbar Hughes and Liam Weir, both from Co Tyrone – are novices.
The eight athletes will be joined by 11 family members who will lend their support during the games.
TEAM 2005, 26 fully-trained Special Olympics Ireland volunteers who have collectively raised €200,000 for Special Olympics Ireland, are also accompanying the skiers.
Since their selection early last year, the team have been training hard at their local clubs and attending weekend training sessions. For the first time ever, Team Ireland prepared for a Winter Games on snow at a training camp in Murau in Austria in December.
Along with other squads from across Europe, the Irish athletes concentrated on general fitness training as well as race technique and technical skills.
Around 2,500 athletes and 650 coaches are taking part in the Special Olympics at Nagano, Japan, which was home of the 1998 Winter Olympic Games and Paralympics.
Sports at the games include skiing, snowboarding, figure and speed skating, snowshoeing and floor hockey.
The athletes will be supported by around 10,000 volunteers, families and friends during the competition, which begins on February 26.
There will be 80 delegations from all over the world.
On arrival in Japan, Team Ireland will have a few days for acclimatisation and light training before competing at the Ichinose Family Ski Ground in Yamamouchi Town, which is about an hour away from Nagano.
The competitors will also participate in an itinerary of cultural, education and social events organised by the local community.
The Special Olympics aims to inspire people to open their minds, accept and include people with a learning disability and celebrate the similarities common to all people.
