Sri Lankan Special Olympics contingent heads to US

By Hishan Welmilla

The Sri Lankan contingent that will participate in the Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles left for the US on 19 July.

The competition, staged by the world’s largest sporting organisation for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, will take place from 25 July to 2 August. The 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games will be held in Los Angeles for the second time since the event’s inception in 1968.

The Sri Lankan contingent will comprise seven athletes and 56 officials and will be seen in action in two sports - athletics and badminton.

Before leaving the island, the team’s Chef de Mission and the Chairman of Special Olympics (Serendib) Sri Lanka, Dr. Nimal Kariyawasam expressed confidence in the team’s hopes of bringing home a medal.

“We managed to win medals at the last Special Olympics held in Australia. I think we have a pretty good chance in athletics this time as well. Dilki Fernando, who is competing in the Women’s 100 metres, looks set for a medal-winning performance. We hope she can get a medal for us,” Dr. Kariyawasam said.

“Sri Lanka has been performing exceptionally  well at previous special Olympiads with our athletes  winning  11 golds, five silvers and a bronze medal at the World Games in Greece in 2011. In 2013 at the Sydney Olympiad our team won five golds, four silvers and eight bronze medals. We expect our athletes to do our country proud this time as well,” Dr. Kariyawasam added.

Meanwhile, stormy weather stopped the Special Olympics torch run in San Diego County on Saturday.

With the opening ceremony on 25 July, about 7,000 athletes and 2,000 coaches from nearly 170 nations have been flying into Los Angeles during the past few weeks to prepare for the games. The opening ceremony will be held at USC’s Los Angeles Coliseum and will play host to celebrities and world leaders such as Stevie Wonder, Jimmy Kimmel and First Lady Michelle Obama.

The delegations are set to stay all around the Los Angeles area during the week before the opening ceremony, taking part in events that promote the organisation’s mission as well as the games themselves.

The event is set to attract more than 500,000 spectators throughout the week, and roughly 30,000 volunteers will contribute to its smooth progress.