Special Olympics Lituania athlete Algimantas Laurinavicius (left), who won the first gold medal of the 2005 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Division M01 of the 3K cross country freestyle, congratulates Rafal Mroz of Special Olympics Poland, who won the bronze. (Photo by Yuji Uyama/PHOTO KISHIMOTO)
Shawn Stainbrook, Team USA, became the first U.S. athlete to win a gold medal in the 2005 World Winter Games; his came in the 3K cross country freestyle, Division M07. (Photo by Yuji Uyama/PHOTO KISHIMOTO)
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The color gold is beautiful and every athlete dreams of winning a gold medal. Special Olympics Lithuania athlete Algimantas Laurinavicius basked in its brilliance as he won the very first gold medal of the 2005 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Division M01 of the 3Kcross country freestyle race.
“My performance was perfect,” said Laurinavicius. This gold medal makes the fifth in his four years of Special Olympics competition. And it certainly doesn’t hurt to have a little help from your friends. “The people from my host town of Osaka Village came for the Games and they were shouting and I heard them and so I got stronger in the race,” he said. Draping the gold medal around his neck was Hideaki Yasukawa, Chief of Games Operations for the 2005 Special Olympics World Winter Games and Special Olympics Global Messenger Emily Matlock.
The crowd also went wild for Shawn Stainbrook, the first U.S. athlete to receive a gold medal at World Games for his exceptional performance in Division M07 of the 3K cross country freestyle race. For Stainbrook, the moment was pure jubilance, since this was the first gold medal of his sports career. “It was super. I was in excellent condition. My legs were working great. I was passing people left and right out there. I didn’t fall once, so the wax, the stretching, the training camps and everything the coaches told us, it paid off today.” What are his impressions of the Games so far? “My impressions are looking high now,” and as he holds up his medal, adds, “This is what it’s all about.”
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