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Bao Meiqin and her son Xu Chuang both serve as unique examples of Special Olympics leadership. Hailing from Shanghai, China, this dynamic Special Olympics family represented both family leadership and athlete leadership on a global level at the 2005 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Nagano, Japan. Chuang served as a Special Olympics International Global Messenger while his mother, Bao served the Special Olympics movement as a Global Family Leader.
Chuang won a gold medal in table tennis at the 5th Special Olympics Shanghai Games in 1999, but remembers a moment three years later as a turning point in his personal evolution. In September 2002, he attended the 3rd Special Olympics China National Games in Xi'an, participating as a reporter for the Global Youth Summit.
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Xu Chuang (left) participating as a reporter for the Global Youth Summit at the 2002 China National Games, a moment he remembers as a turning point in his personal evolution. |
“At that time I was deeply touched by the spirit of all the people there,” he said. “From then on, I was determined to be a real athlete, to compete in the National Games and even in the World Games!” His dream came true in when he won a silver medal as a member of the Special Olympics China football (soccer) team at the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Dublin, Ireland. Today he runs every morning and trains for competitions in a variety of sports including table tennis, floor hockey and football.
Chuang continued to grow when he was chosen to be a Global Messenger in a ceremony in Beijing. He joined a training program in March 2004, and “changed from an athlete who only knows through training and competition to gain a gold medal to being a leader of Special Olympics athletes.” Chuang wants to take his new-found confidence and encourage people to learn more about Special Olympics and to join and support the movement. He attends Chong Hua Vocational Training School where his teachers and classmates admire him for his talents in athletics, his dedication to improvement and his kind and hilarious personality.
“I was once very shy and not willing to talk with others,” Chuang said. “Special Olympics changed my life and my love of sports and helped me achieve all this unimaginable success.”
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Bai Meiqin (center) at the 2005 Special Olympics World Winter Games, with fellow Global Family Leaders Margaret Mbithi, Special Olympics Kenya (left) and Donna Willms, Special Olympics Canada. |
After witnessing the improvement of her son's life after he became involved in Special Olympics, Bai Meiqin felt that she could do more to serve the movement as a family member. Meiqin became involved with the Special Olympics Family Support Network in China, and when it was time to nominate a new class of global family leaders in November of 2004, Meiqin was identified as a particularly strong candidate for the position. Tan Ruyan, a member of the inaugural class of Global Family Leaders from Shanghai, suggested that Meiqin's dedication to family support and leadership in China would lend experience and passion to global family programming. She traveled to Nagano for the 2005 World Winter Games where she was formally introduced as a Global Family Leader and began to work with the other members of the 2005-2007 class of Global Family Leaders from around the world.
Both Meiqin and her son Chuang had tremendous responsibilities at World Games as they each served their separate roles as spokespeople for different aspects of the Special Olympics movement. However, their responsibilities crossed with the Global Family Discussions that were held daily in the family lounges. Meiqin, along with nine other Global Family Leaders who attended games, served as a facilitator at the meetings with family members, while Chuang and the other International Global Messengers served as special guests at each of the discussions.
The leadership of Xu Chuang and his mother Bao Meiqin is a testimony to the strength and value of family leadership and support throughout the Special Olympics movement. |
