Each one a winner
MEET THE SCOTS FLYING GB FLAG AT ABU DHABI GAMES Inspiring athletes ready to do us all proud at Special Olympics
EVERY single athlete representing their country at the Special Olympics World Games is already a winner.
So massive congratulations to the team of Scots that are heading to Abu Dhabi as part of the UK team. The very best of luck to all of them.
A TEAM of inspirational Scots have flown to the United Arab Emirates to represent Great Britain at the Special Olympics.
Each athlete has overcome personal struggles to reach the top of their sport and carry the hopes of the nation at the Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi.
Scots make up about a third of the GB team, a testament to our sporting system for the intellectually disabled. There will be Scots in 16 out of 24 sports at the Games – which begin on March 14. Many already hold British titles from the last UK championships in Sheffield.
Tennis stars Frances Smiley, 19, from Prestwick and Jack Dickson, 20, from Troon, Ayrshire, take the motto of the Special Olympics to heart: “Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.” But the British men’s and ladies’ singles and mixed doubles champions also admit they are going for gold.
In Abu Dhabi, both will compete in singles, with Frances in ladies’ doubles alongside Fiona Lane from England and Jack in men’s doubles with England’s Ben Tyler.
Frances, who has global learning difficulties and dyspraxia, is hoping to bring home more than medals.
She said: “I’ve asked dad, if I get gold, will he get me a cat?’
Mum Christina laughed: “Yes, we’ll call it Goldie.”
Jack, who has autism, admits he is
I’m just going to do my best. It’s about taking part ANDREW MACINTYRE ON HIS GYMNASTICS CHANCES
a little nervous about going to Abu Dhabi.
He explained: “I’m a hugger, and we’ve been told we can only shake hands or high-five. I’ll be seeing friends I haven’t seen in a while, so I’ll find that difficult.”
But both are eager to get out and play the sport they love.
Christina said: “The tremendous thing compared to two years ago in Sheffield is their fitness levels. They have been training four times a week as well as going to the gym.
“Their coach Lesley Whitehead is Mrs no nonsense but she has got things out of them we wouldn’t have believed they had in them.”
Jack’s mum Jean said: “The Special Olympics has been so good for Jack. He has made so many new friends.”
For cyclist Ruairidh Brown, 20, from East Kilbride, the Games are a chance to go one better than four years ago in Los Angeles, when he won silver after a torrid 25k road race.
Ruaridh was in a good position in the pack when another cyclist clipped his tyre from behind and he fell.
He said: “I got back on and caught up with the pack but my heart rate was 210 beats per minute.”
Ruaridh kept going, but his bike was beginning to collapse under him and he lost out in the sprint to the line for the gold. He clung on to take silver, and the rear gear fell off his bike as soon as he crossed the line.
He still had to compete in the 15k road race and 10k time trial two days later. Emergency repairs were carried out on the bike – and a big hole in Ruaridh’s shoulder – and he won silver in the road race and came fourth in the time trial.
Ruaridh has developmental learning difficulties and has recently been diagnosed with an extremely rare genetic abnormality.
But the confidence his cycling gives him has enabled him to get a job as a labourer, and he also coaches younger athletes.
He’s been training six days a week for the Games, and is most looking forward to competing on Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Formula One track.
“I’m confident, but in the last week or two I’ve got a bit nervous,” he said.
“I want three golds but I’d settle for two golds and a silver. But it’s all about making new friends – that is just as important as winning medals.”
Gymnast Andrew Macintyre, 31, is another Special Olympian who coaches. As well as volunteering, he recently landed a paid job as a gymnastics coach for all abilities with Glasgow Life.
Andrew, who has Down’s Syndrome, will compete on pommel horse, rings, parallel bars, high bar, vault and floor at the Games. He admitted: “High bar is my weakest.”
Proud mum Fiona said: “He has just become Scottish Champion for floor and he is very good on the rings.”
Andrew, 31, of Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire, has been doing gymnastics for almost 20 years. He was introduced to the sport to help his fitness after a bout of pneumonia left him weak and lethargic.
Fiona said: “He’d been receiving physio, but after six weeks at gymnastics she said, ‘Don’t come back; he’s sorted.’
“He’s so strong now – you wouldn’t want to arm-wrestle him.”
The sport has become such a big part of Andrew’s life that dad Stuart decided against moving the family to Edinburgh for a work opportunity a few years ago so his son could continue to train in Glasgow, where there are more opportunities for Special Olympics gymnastics.
The decision has been rewarded many times over with Andrew winning armfuls of medals.
He proudly told how he took home “two silver and four golds” from Sheffield, but added: “In Abu Dhabi I am just going to do my best. For me it is just about taking part.” Another real medal hope is Philip Brodie, 18, from Livingston. Philip has global developmental delay but is proving a judo star.
His foster mum Maureen Imrie, 71, said: “When Philip came to us at four years old his speech was incredibly poor. There was violence in his background and he suffered from chronic neglect.”
But his love of judo has helped his development and he is now hoping to study sport and fitness at college when he leaves Cedarbank special school this summer.
He’s coached by his foster parents’ son Jonny and Jonny’s wife Jo, who are also part of the GB backroom team. He joked: “I just hope I’m not sharing a room with Jonny because he snores.”
Philip is another Sheffield gold medallist but Maureen said he is modest and “hates fuss”. She revealed: “He hadn’t even told his school about being selected for the Games. They didn’t realise how big a deal it was until I told them he needed time off.
“They threw a party for him and gave him a cedar tree pin which is only given to teachers. He was the first pupil to get it and he’ll wear it on his lanyard at the Games.”
Philip also helps coach some of the youngsters at the Jidel Judo Club, where he trains.
He said of his chances of Games gold: “A medal is a medal no matter if it’s gold, silver or bromze. Winning is not everything, it’s the taking part.”
In typical teenager fashion, he said he was most looking forward to “getting two and a half weeks off school – and the sunshine”.
But the lad they call Chicken Boy –“because I am so skinny” – is secretly hoping to rule the
roost.