Lakeland Special Olympians are coming back from the 2017 Special Olympics with some hardware.
Five local athletes headed to Medicine Hat from July 7 to 9 to participate in the Special Olympics Alberta Summer Games.
“It was satisfying not just for myself, but also the head coach. She definitely was pretty happy they achieved what they did, because there has been a positive change in all of our athletes throughout our affiliation,” said Michael Heurkens, chairman for the Lakeland Special Olympics.
Out of the five that participated, two brought home medals.
Bonnyville five-pin bowler Leo Gagne came home sporting a gold medal in his division, while Cold Lake resident Virginia Watchmaker won silver in hers.
“As their head coach, I was very proud of my team. They endured, they achieved well, and they were awesome troopers,” said Shirley Heurkens, team coach.
Gagne managed to bowl a 923, while Virginia scored 631 to claim silver.
“It was definitely exciting for the athletes. Leo especially… he had a big grin on his face,” Michael said.
There were 11 sports, 39 bowling teams, and hundreds of athletes taking part in the weekend's events. With temperatures reaching well over 30-degrees, they had to modify the length and intensity of some of the sports.
“It went really well despite the extreme heat,” said Michael, adding their team in particular showed tremendously well.
“It's a massive achievement. Our affiliation is fairly quiet, and they're going to Medicine Hat in extreme heat and all of the noise and commotion from 39-teams, just for the bowling… with all of that stimulation, the heat, and just being out of their common surroundings, they did so well,” he said.
To start the weekend off, the athletes were treated to a special opening ceremony.
“The opening ceremonies, although a little long, you could feel the energy in the room. There were over 900 athletes, over 800 volunteers, plus all of the other staff that was around,” Michael described.
An RCMP member and Police Service Dog brought in the Special Olympic torch. This, and the fact that Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Lois Mitchell gave a speech, were both touching to the athletes, coaches, and volunteers.
The athletes are bringing home much more than medals, they're bringing lifelong friendships and memories of a once in a lifetime event.
“Overall, it was a fabulous experience, it wasn't just being there, but how much we learned not only about our own athletes, but also about other athletes,” Michael expressed. “It's awe-inspiring.”
He added that being around other athletes like themselves was motivating and inspiring.
“I'm just so proud of them,” Shirley noted.
