They’ve sprinted on tracks, churned through water and powered through pain in their quest for gold.
But Sunday the 6,500 athletes who competed in the Special Olympics World Games will take a more leisurely victory lap when the 165 nations that arrived in Southern California more than a week ago participate in the closing ceremony at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
These were the biggest Special Olympics World Games to date. Officials estimate more than 350,000 people watched the 25 competitions scattered over nine venues — including the lighting of the Olympic flame by Norwalk Special Olympics athlete Destiny Sanchez and Olympic champion Rafer Johnson at the Coliseum during the opening ceremony.
As the flame burned, the World Games also inadvertently evoked nostalgia for the 1984 Summer Olympics and served as a real-time reminder to the world that Los Angeles is ready-made for another Olympics — in 2024.
Early last week Boston dropped its bid to host those games and the U.S. Olympic Committee said it was still interested in putting an American city forward to the International Olympic Committee. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti already had sought to ensure the city would be the USOC’s choice, but Boston prevailed when the USOC chose it in January.
The mayor, in a statement, said the Special Olympics World Games proved again that Los Angeles was always ready to seize the international stage.
“The Special Olympics World Games show that our city is able to host the biggest events that inspire the world,” he said. “Including the 2024 Summer Olympics.”
Like any of the Olympics brands — Paralympics and Special Olympics — the athletics meshed with improbable and inspiring stories among the national teams.
There was American Olivia Quigley’s sprint to a gold medal in the 100-meter. She was battling stage 4 breast cancer and had undergone chemotherapy — but put the treatments on hold to compete. The crowd at USC cheered wildly as she crossed the finish line in 16.76 seconds.
“She wanted to win for all the women who have breast cancer,” said Quigley’s coach, Deb Gruenloh.
There were also the expected unexpected moments that come with an Olympics, like the first trip to the World Games by the four-athlete contingent from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Delegation liaison Veronique Dozier said the victory thus far had been to just get them to the games. By Thursday, they had four medals — with Sara Mulekia winning the nation’s first gold in track in the 100-meter.
“It’s a miracle,” Dozier said. “It’s all so unbelievable.”
Donovan Clarke, a sprinter from the Bahamas, ran to gold in the 200 meters — just 2 seconds off what would have been a qualifying spot in the London 2012 Olympic games. His win set off a flurry of hands in the stands waving the nation’s turquoise flag.
The Nigerian basketball team — with eight of its 10 members having a hearing disability — contended for a bronze medal. But it was what happened off the court that struck L.A. 2015 President and CEO Patrick McClenahan the most.
That was when the team visited the Healthy Athletes Program set up to do free examinations and outfit athletes with glasses, proper-fitting shoes, dental care and hearing aids.
He said more than 500 hearing aids had been given out, including those to the Nigerian basketball team.
“When the coach shouted out instructions and the player turned to hear them …” he said. “It’s things like that — knowing that was the first he heard the voice — and you see the difference it makes in people’s lives.”
Kaiser Permanente provided the games with 650 physicians to care for the competitors. The Healthy Athletes program had screened more than 4,500 athletes and 139 delegations. Through the screenings, 600 pairs of glasses were distributed along with 4,300 pairs of shoes.
Dr. Thad Woodward, assistant medical director for the Special Olympics World Games, said through mid-Friday, only eight athletes had been hospitalized. None of the conditions were life-threatening.
He said seeing the athletes from some of the underdeveloped nations try on glasses and see clearly was “where you get the tingles” and see the big smiles.
The games, established by Eunice Kennedy Shriver 47 years ago in Chicago, have grown in participation every four years. ESPN televised these World Games on its networks around the world. The Special Olympics movement has more than 4 million athletes in its programs globally.
It’s still not the size of the Olympics, and Barry Sanders, chairman of the Southern California Committee for the Olympics, said he didn’t think it would have a huge impact on Los Angeles’ chances for 2024. But he said it did provide value locally.
“It reminds us how thrilling the opening ceremony is and how much the city likes to turn out for something special,” Sanders said. “It shows the goodwill among us and it builds enthusiasm for something Olympic in nature.”
The question as to whether the World Games can pave the way for another Olympics in Los Angeles is an open one — with contenders from Paris, Rome and Hamburg all in the mix. The 1984 Summer Games were successful and there have been no major problems with these Special Olympics — with the exception of several hundred athletes sleeping on the gym floor when some flights arrived sooner than expected. The glitch was smoothed out the following day as athletes made their way to about 100 host cities and engaged in cultural exchanges while laying down roots for more Special Olympics participation in those communities.
The next Special Olympics World Games is the winter events in 2017 hosted by Austria. Representatives from that nation will take the Special Olympics World Games flag at the traditional hand-off during the closing ceremony on Sunday night when the flame is extinguished atop the Coliseum.
