THE?CROWD was not very large and the Olympic maxim of faster, higher, stronger, further was not significant.
However, the squeals of joy and the mile-wide smiles on the faces of the supporters and athletes highlighted the 36th Annual National Special Olympic Games held at the National Stadium yesterday.
Adhering to the principle that “everyone was a winner” proved valuable as the athletes, their parents, teachers and all of the volunteers enjoyed a day when 560 competitors from 14 institutions and a number of private entrants took part in 61 track and field events.
Many of the athletes revealed their close monitoring of some of the international stars as they engaged in all kinds of antics before and after their events.
Patrick Hinds of the Challenor School wore a glove on his right hand which he kissed after leaving his opponents in the dust and then raised that gloved triumphant right hand.
The Olympic spirit was alive in All Saints’ duo of Dru Scantlebury and Shammah Jordan, who after running away from the other competitors decided to match each other stride for stride to the finish line.
On the other hand, a heavy fall by Leah Greaves and the resulting tears were replaced by a broad grin when the Charles F. Broome student was helped across the line by teacher Teresa Chase.
One of the darlings of the day was Aaron Gilkes of the Sunshine Early Stimulation Centre, who received his gold medal in the 50-metre dash and then took over the winner’s podium engaging in an entertaining celebratory dance and jumps that could have gained him at least three other gold medals.
The day’s events received great support from Digicel, who has launched a fund, The Road To A World Away, which is geared towards helping Special Olympic Barbados make the Special Olympics in 2015.
