Island athletes win 10 medals
VANCOUVER—Manitoulin Special Olympic (MSO) athletes demonstrated amazing talent and sportsmanship at the Special Olympic Canada National Games held earlier this month in Vancouver, garnering 10 medals, including seven gold.
No stranger to the nationals or the podium, Austin Featherstone earned three gold medals, including first place wins in the 800 metre race, 1,500 metre race (with a time of four minutes and 43 seconds) and the 4×400 metre relay race along with fellow MSO athlete Matthew Bedard.
In addition to his gold relay win with Austin, Matthew brought home gold in the 1,500 metre race and bronze for high jump.
Also from Manitoulin, Jamie Pyette received gold in high jump, the first gold of the competition for the MSO athletes on Team Ontario. His 4×100 metre relay team also came in first in their division.
Mark Dokum earned a silver medal in both the 100 metre race and the shot put, bringing the MSO athletes’ total count to 10 medals.
Jeff Panamick was also a strong competitor at nationals, placing sixth in golf.
“It was a lot of fun,” 20-year-old Matthew Bedard of Manitowaning told The Expositor on Monday. “It was challenging, but I had a great time.”
“It was my first time going to nationals and my first time in Vancouver,” continued Matthew. “I made a lot of new friends from Team Ontario and from across Canada. It was great seeing the other athletes compete and how much they pushed their limits. Winning gold was great, but making friends and doing your best and forgetting the rest was the most important thing to remember.”
Matthew commented that the weather was beautiful throughout the competition and when the MSO athletes weren’t busy competing, they had fun exploring Vancouver, especially liking the nearby mountains, beaches and aquarium.
“It went amazingly well,” said MSO coach Janet Anning of the national competition. “They are terrific athletes and were dedicated, working hard to get to games and committed to training. All the athletes did wonderfully. Even the competitions they didn’t win, they still had personal bests and great times. It was tough competition this year, but they all did so well.”
“They were also terrific sportsmen and gentlemen and I was proud to have them not only representing Ontario, but Manitoulin Island,” added Ms. Anning.
Ms. Anning said she will be notified in the fall if any of the MSO athletes have qualified for the World Special Olympic Games in 2015 in Los Angeles.
The 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games will feature roughly 7,000 athletes and 3,000 coaches from over 170 countries. The 2015 World Games are also expecting an estimated 30,000 volunteers and another 500,000 spectators to lend their support. The 2015 World Games will be the largest event hosted by Los Angeles since the 1984 Olympic Games.
