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Multi-sport athlete Honesty Powell poses with her tennis racquet. |
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Many athletes have found success within Special Olympics, but Honesty Powell has shown strength both inside and outside the organization. Powell has participated in basketball, athletics, bowling, volleyball, tennis and aquatics for more than 10 years with Special Olympics Kansas.
Powell graduated from Central High School in Salina, Kansas, USA. As she gained confidence through Special Olympics sports, she decided to test her skills against peers without mental retardation. In 1997, competing with her fellow classmates, she became a high-school qualifier in track and a member of the women's tennis team. In her senior year, she placed at the Kansas state high-school track and field event, the Salina South Invitational. On 27 April, Honesty Powell broke Central High's discus-throwing record and topped her previous best record with a toss of 142 feet, 11 inches (about 43 meters). Later that day, she won the discus-throwing championship for the state of Kansas.
"I was really ecstatic," she told a reporter for her hometown newspaper, the Salina Journal. "It took me four years to accomplish that goal."
In 1999, Powell competed in the Special Olympics World Summer Games as a member of the Special Olympics USA tennis team. "Special Olympics has given me the strength and courage to learn new skills and compete with other athletes," she reports.
She is now an assistant coach in basketball and athletics as well. "I love participating in all the sports," says Powell, "but as a coach and volunteer, I've learned many things, especially how to be responsible for my athletes."
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