`HE IS AN ABSOLUTE MACHINE'
Proud coaches highlight three of Calgary's Special Olympians to watch at the Games
The competition is about to begin at the Special Olympics Canada Winter Games Calgary 2024, and 96 of Alberta's finest athletes are bringing their A-games in eight sports across seven local venues.
Approximately 800 athletes from across the country will compete in the Games between Tuesday and March 2; the opening ceremony will be presented by the Calgary Flames Foundation at Stampede Park.
Including participants, coaches, volunteers, and visiting family and friends, the planning committee anticipates a total of 4,000 people coming to the city.
In the second part of a special two-part series, Postmedia Calgary spoke to three of Calgary's top athletes and their coaches about their preparations and expectations for the event.
ANDREAS WALTHER ALPINE SKIING
Theresa Garagan, alpine skiing coach with the Special Olympics, describes 54-year-old Andreas Walther as a champion.
Garagan, who is with the Calgary Police Service, has known Walther for 15 years and has been training him for the alpine skiing event at the Games for the past nine months.
“You know the stairs off of Memorial Drive — that was our training every Sunday for about two months,” she said with a chuckle.
“We run up and down the stairs; once we get to the top, we do pushups, squats and run back and forth.”
Walther is a cancer survivor. “He is a superhero in my books,” Garagan said.
“A year ago in December, he had just finished his cancer treatment at that point and then he continued to train with Special Olympics, and he qualified at provincials,” she said.
Training for Walther consists of hiking, a lot of cardio, and sport-specific activities at the Westwinds Calgary police headquarters.
“He is a machine; he is an absolute machine. I just adore him. He's worked very hard and I really hope he qualifies for worlds.”
Garagan said Walther has been competing in alpine skiing for “quite a long time” and is proud of all the uphill battles he has conquered along the way.
“Andreas is pretty good about it; he can articulate enough to say, `You know, I did my best,' and that's all we ask,” she said. “The athlete's oath is, `Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be great in the attempt,' and he knows that and that's exactly how he is — as long as he did his best.
“One thing that the athletes love the most out of anything in the whole world is that they couldn't care less about win or lose, but as long as there's a dance at the end, they don't care.”
JENNIFER RIDDELL, SNOWSHOEING
Bob Corrigan, assistant coach for the Special Olympics snowshoeing program, is a mentor to Jennifer Riddell, 44, who will compete at the Games.
Corrigan has known Riddell for about seven years from both track and field and snowshoeing.
“Jen is a very experienced athlete — she's been to worlds about five times in different sports, and she is dedicated,” he said.
“She works out basically every day of the week; she's self-motivated, and you can just see the passion that Jen has for sports.”
Last year, Riddell was in Berlin for the 2023 World Games, and Corrigan was her local training coach for track and field. Currently, he said Riddell's training schedule has been packed ever since the snowshoeing team was announced last September.
Riddell will compete in the 800- and 1,600-metre snowshoe running events at this year's Games.
“Jen is coming out here as part of our ongoing Sunday Calgary based program, and then she also has been a part of the Alberta team and we've been to training camps here in Alberta,” Corrigan said.
He added that Riddell is an example of excellent sportsmanship who has exhibited respect for other Special Olympics athletes with diverse abilities.
“If you look at the 40-plus athletes that are here today at the snowshoe running program, we have a vast array of skill sets. And what you've got is people with Down syndrome, you've got people with global delays, you've got people who have both — some of them are almost non-verbal — but they come out here and compete and give it the best they can.”
Riddell, who has a developmental delay, trains one day a week with Special Olympics, three days on her own and every two weeks with a trainer.
The athlete said she is aiming for a gold medal and hopes to compete in one more World Games before she retires in a couple of years.
“The biggest thing I'd like to have Jen say is that `I gave everything that I've got,' no matter how she finishes in her races. And, more importantly, that she's had fun,” Corrigan said.
He stressed the importance of supporting the athletes and wants people to come out and “explore” the world of Special Olympics.
“Especially if you've got friends or a family member, don't assume that they can't come out here and perform and be involved in some of the sports because there is a wide range of support that they can get here.”
KARL MALONE, FIVEPIN BOWLING
The first thing people might notice about 35-year-old Karl Malone is his contagious laughter, along with his enthusiasm for fivepin bowling.
Corinna Cayer, the head coach of fivepin bowling for Team Alberta Nationals, has known Malone for two years and speaks of the tremendous progress he's made as an athlete and bowler.
“The first time I met Karl, he was very impatient, he just wanted to throw that ball and see where it would go. But now, he focuses more on the pins when he's aiming for them and he's mellowed out a lot from when we first met,” Cayer said.
This is Cayer's first time to nationals, and while she is nervous, she wants to be a strong support for Malone.
“Training with Karl has been great because we are showing him how to strategize, slow down his steps and focus on that ball. And like we tell him, `when you're looking down that alley, think of those pins as something that you like or dislike, and then you're going to nail them,'” she said.
Cayer said the key is patience. Malone has an intellectual disability and was first introduced to Special Olympics when his brother signed him up. When asked how he feels about the upcoming Games, he said, “I'm feeling fantastic, happy and super excited.”
“I've been trying hard, trying to succeed,” he said, adding that he is aiming to get a medal.
“I would love to see him come home with a medal — that would just tickle me pink,” Cayer said. “I would love to see my entire team come home with a medal — to me, that would be saying, `I've done my job, I've helped them to be successful,'”
“I want to thank my brother, my coaches and the other athletes,” Malone said.