World Games Updates
Before leaving for Idaho, Special Olympics Great Britain's Alpine skiing team met with eight-time British ski champion and BBC’s “Ski Sunday’s” Graham Bell, who is Special Olympics Great Britain's latest Ambassador.
Introducing the Special Olympics Great Britain Alpine Ski Team
The 10-member Special Olympics Great Britain Alpine ski team is a motley crew, with some very intriguing pastimes―like George Brunt, 24, of Worcestershire, a model for well-known British sculptor Charles Walker Hazzard, who immortalized Brunt in life-sized sculptures that were on display in October 2008 at the Art Workers Guild in London; Craig Hannah, 32, from Halesowen, went for the ultimate adrenaline rush when he skydived from 13,000 feet; Claire Jeffray, 31, from Scotland, who had a rare and breathtaking experience when she was invited to the Queen’s Garden Party at Holyrood Palace and was singled out for an introduction to Queen Elizabeth II; and Hannah Dempsey, 20, of Kent, who is a member of Anjali, a professional contemporary dance company, composed entirely of people with intellectual disabilities. Dempsey starred in the opening performance at a major dance festival in Stuttgart.
One athlete, Jonathan Frett, of New Malden, even made a life-changing decision. “When I saw my race suit I told my mum I needed to lose weight. So I went on a diet, got help from a personal trainer, and I lost 14 pounds. My dad would be so proud of me if he was alive. When I stand on top of the slope, I will say, ‘Dad this one’s for you and, hopefully, it might be gold.”
These accomplished skiers range in age from 18 to 41 and while some only have been skiing for a few years, Beth Wragg, 31, from Dudley, has been skiing since she was 3 years old and has won gold medals in the Special Olympics Advanced Female Division. To qualify for the 2009 World Games, the athletes raced in the 2008 Special Olympics Great Britain National Championships in Pila, Italy.
Head Coach Liam de Vanney quips that skiers think they are pretty cool, that is, until they train alongside Special Olympics athletes. Observes deVanney, “You learn your world is very small and you aren’t so cool after all, because these athletes are charging ahead as if you and I were standing still.” He has high praise for the Special Olympics Healthy Athletes® program, too. “One of our athletes benefited so profoundly from the Fit Feet program and the professionally fitted orthotics, that he went from being an occasional/rare parallel turner to an almost/always parallel skier – not in a month, not in a week, not in a day, but overnight,” revealed de Vanney.
The skiers have received encouragement from eight-time British ski champion and BBC’s “Ski Sunday’s” Graham Bell and British Olympic skier Chemmy Alcott, who told them, “As an Olympian, I respect the amount of training, dedication and just plain hard work the Special Olympics athletes put into their athletic performance. It’s exciting to think they will get to know the thrill of competition on a world stage. I am honored to be a fan!”
Longtime Special Olympics volunteer Gaye Barber sent the ski team off in style by reading them a poem she had composed about their coming adventure in America. "Writing has been part of who I am all my life," she said. "I write for my own pleasure and enjoyment and, as with this poem, really love having the opportunity to write something for others that I hope they will enjoy and make them smile. Being able to bring together my two passions in life – Special Olympics and writing – ande produce a poem that seems to have struck a chord with so many people is a real joy." Read Barber's poem in the Fan Community.
The team will be cheered on by one of Great Britain’s top officials, the Minister of Disabled People, Jonathan Shaw, MP, who will be in Boise to greet them in person.