MIYAH MARTIN
Contributor
On May 2nd, the 23rd annual Special Olympics was held. The Special Olympics is a athleticism and training event for those with disabilities.
The first event took place in 1969. For the past four years, it has been held at Marion County High School. However, for the first time, it was held at Whitwell High school. After
every four or so years, they rotate the Special Olympics to a different county.
The representing counties were Marion County, Sequatchie
County, Grundy County, and Bledsoe County. In total, there were 87-92 contestants. Many of the contestants participated in two or more events. After 9:50, they had the Parade of Champions, the National Anthem sung by Britney Johnson, the raising of the flag, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the Special Olympics Athlete Oath by Toby Guffey.
At 10:00, the games began. The events were the visually impaired walk, 30-meter motorized wheelchair slalom, 50-meter walk, and 50-meter run. In addition, they had the 100-meter walk, 100-meter run, softball throw, and finally, the standing long jump. For the top three, there was a presentation of medals and ribbons for every event. Each gold, silver, and bronze winner took home a red ribbon medal. Around noon, the contestants and visitors began to leave, taking their prizes with them.
The crowd of visitors stood pretty large, many cheering for the contestants in the events. The visitors were from all different counties. It was a memorable moment for many people there. Whether it was the contestants, visitors, or volunteers, it will be happily remembered like many of the other years’ Special Olympic games.
