The Prince George Special Olympics track and field team brought home the medals from the B.C. Region 7 & 8 qualifier held in Smithers on June 29.
There were 11 local athletes who competed in races, standing and running long jump, mini javelin, shot put and wheelchair events.
The group saw new and seasoned athletes compete to achieve their goals of representing their zone at the Special Olympics B.C. Games to be held in Prince George in 2025.
During the regional qualifier in Smithers many athletes took to the podium a number of times as they each earned medals and ribbons and reached personal bests.
Here are the results for Prince George athletes:
- Ruth Caldwell took gold in mini javelin and the 100 metre race and bronze in standing long jump and shot put.
- Carla Caputo took gold in 200 metre, 400 metre, 800 metre races and mini javelin, while earning silver in 100 metre and shot put.
- Chase Caron took gold in the 100 metre, silver in running long jump and mini javelin, and bronze in shot put.
- David Dunn took gold in 1500 metre, 3000 metre, and running long jump, while placing silver in the 800 metre race.
- Tyler LeFebvre took gold in 25 metre wheelchair and 30 metre wheelchair slalom, silver in mini javelin and bronze in shot put.
- Audrey Nelson took gold in mini javelin, shot put and 100 metre and silver in standing long jump.
- Dallas Poole took silver in 100 metre and bronze in the 200 metre race and in shot put.
- Spencer Rourke took gold in the 200 metre race and shot put while earning silver in standing long jump.
- Adam Spokes took gold in running long jump and silver in mini javelin and shot put.
- Marinka VanHage took gold in the 100 metre race and silver in the 200 and 400 metre races, and earned bronze in shot put and and mini javelin.
- Randella Willier took gold in the 200 metre race, standing long jump and shot put and earned silver in mini javelin.
The 2025 Special Olympics B.C. Summer Games will see about 1,100 athletes with intellectual disabilities compete in 10 summer sports including, track and field, 10-pin bowling, basketball, bocce, golf, rhythmic gymnastics, powerlifting, soccer, softball and swimming.
The provincial games will allow successful athletes to advance to national and international levels of competition. Athletes excelling at the B.C. Summer Games in Prince George next year will qualify for the 2026 Special Olympics Canada Summer Games, which in turn will be the national qualifier for the 2027 Special Olympics World Summer Games.
Later this summer there will be an announcement about who from Prince George will be eligible to move on to the 2025 Special Olympics B.C. Summer Games.
Many of the athletes are competing in several sport qualifiers and if they qualify for more than one sport they will have to make a choice about what sport to compete in at the Summer Games.
