A cold but sunny Sault Ste. Marie was the location of the 2019 Special Olymoics Provincial Winter Games January 31st – February 3. Eight athletes from Saugeen Shores were part of the Central District team. Over 450 athletes competed in the six winter sports of: Nordic and Alpine skiing, speed and figure skating, snowshoeing and curling.
The event had a rocky start when stormy weather and closed roads prevented the bus from departing early Thursday morning. A tense day of waiting ended in a bus departure at midnight. Excellent driving by Cherry bus driver Bill got us through the night and into Sault Ste. Marie by 9:30am. Coaches and athletes “hit the ground running” in full competition mode that afternoon. Nervousness and fatigue could not impede success!
A team of local curlers out of the Port Elgin Curling Club had a 3 wins, one loss record to capture the gold medal in their division. Gold Medal Winners – (L-R back) Coach Tim Bellamy, lead Andy Hubbard, skip Terri Johnston and vice skip Jeremy Kranenburg. (Front L-R) Coach Shelley Bellamy, second Jason Scott
Nordic skiers Jacqueline Gravel and Katie Lesperance did us proud on their skis. Katie finish the competition with 2 gold medals in the 1km and 100m races and silver in the 500m. Jacqueline earned 3 gold medals in the 7.5km, 5km and 2.5km free style as well as a bronze in the team relay race. Speed skater, Jordan Taylor, skating out of Walkerton earned 4 medals: 1 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze. Port Elgin curler Raymond Tomlinson was picked up by the Walkerton ‘Cracked Ice’ team that earned a bronze medal in their division.
Over 600 fabulous volunteers made the 2019 Special Olympics Provincial Games a warm and friendly ‘Northern Experience’ not ever to be forgotten.
