Special Olympics Rotorua has sent a 47-strong team to the Special Olympics New Zealand National Summer Games in Wellington this week. Photo / Supplied
Special Olympics Rotorua has sent a 47-strong team to the Special Olympics New Zealand National Summer Games in Wellington this week. Photo / Supplied
Special Olympics Rotorua athletes are having the time of their lives in Wellington.
There are 47 athletes from Rotorua participating in the ninth edition of the Special Olympics New Zealand National Summer Games this week.
Every four years thousands of people with intellectual disabilities display their sporting prowess at the games and Special Olympics Rotorua secretary Jess Gibbs said the athletes were loving the atmosphere.
"They've been absolutely loving it and a lot of them who have been previously have been able to catch up with athletes they met at other games. Everyone who is there said it's pumping and the opening ceremony on Monday was amazing.
"This sort of event gives them the confidence to give things a go and shows them they can do it. It's also a great opportunity for them to get away and experience a national event, it's definitely a highlight every four years," Gibbs said.
The games started on Monday and finish tomorrow.Rotorua athletes are competing in swimming, tenpin bowling, indoor bowls, basketball and football and have already picked up an impressive haul of medals.
The football competition finished on Wednesday and the Rotorua team won bronze, which Gibbs said they were "very stoked" about.
The Special Olympics Rotorua football team has won bronze at the Special Olympics New Zealand National Summer Games. Photo / Supplied
In the swimming Tui Martin won silver in the 25m freestyle. She also finished fourth in her 50m freestyle heat and had a 25m backstroke final to race.
Special Olympics Rotorua sent a strong tenpin bowling team to the games and they have been collecting medals as well.
"They play in four-person teams first. Our team in Division Four got a bronze medal and our teams in Division Seven and Division Nine won silver."
In the tenpin bowling doubles, Matthew Gibbs and Jesse Snowden won gold in Division Six. In Division 16 Delarnie Smith and Shannon Cooper won gold, while Dominic Bowen and Gregg Hyde were hot on their heels in second.
Rotorua tenpin bowlers have been collecting medals all week at the Special Olympics New Zealand National Summer Games. Photo / Supplied
So far in the singles, which started yesterday and continue today,Harema Miki has won silver in Division Six, the others are still competing.
The indoor bowls and basketball competitions were under way at the time of writing, but the Rotorua basketball team had progressed through pool play unbeaten.
"It's a long week for the basketballers but they are going well, they've had some really good wins," she said.
Rotorua Special Olympics has twice as many athletes competing at the games as they did in 2013, and since qualifying they had all been fundraising hard to get there.
"Our community has been amazing, we had to raise $80,000 to get down there and we knew at the end of September that we had raised it and we could get them all down there, which was a huge achievement.
"We're definitely grateful, it means so much to the athletes. They are really inspired to be there and they want to make everyone who helped fundraise proud."
