A proud moment!
275 athletes who performed under the banner of Special Olympics Bharat, an NGO that organizes Olympic-type sports for persons with intellectual disabilities at the Special Olympics, made us proud by bagging 173 Medals which includes 47 gold medals, 54 silver and 72 bronze pieces 14 disciplines during the 9-day event that ended on 2nd August.
The event had 6500 athletes competing against each other from across 177 countries.
The contingent performed amazingly in athletics with three gold medals in various categories of the 100-metre race. We also took the softball gold on debut.
Ranvir Singh Saini became the first Indian golfer to win a gold medal.
A group of differently-abled athletes from the Delhi government-run Asha Kiran Home won 7 medals- 3 gold and 4 bronze.
Phoolan Devi won the first gold for India in power-lifting (bench press). She also took 3 bronze medals in power-lifting (all lifts, dead-lift and squat lift), and Sonakshi won a bronze in power-lifting (bench press).
Roller skating athletes won 39 medals- 10 gold, 17 silver and 12 bronze.
PM Narendra Modi too shared his happiness and great wishes with the athletes who competed in the Special Olympics 2015.
Achievements of Indian contingent at @LA2015 @SpecialOlympics are truly gladdening. They are India’s pride. https://t.co/LECxugcD0n
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 4, 2015
The @LA2015 @SpecialOlympics were a triumph of determination, hardwork & sportsman spirit. Congratulations to all athletes who participated. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 4, 2015
“They shine every time, and they have shone this year too. We are pleased with the performance, the medal tally has improved. They have bagged 173 from 150 something last time around, so we are extremely proud of what they have achieved. Next is the winter Olympics in Austria in 2017 which will be our main focus. The athletes will start training from October this year.” Mukta Narain Thind, Special Olympics Bharat’s national director told IANS as reported by NDTV.
The U.S. Consulate General Mumbai too took the opportunity to congratulate the Special Olympics Bharat team.
Congratulations India! The delegation at the Special Olympics World Games Los Angeles 2015 has won a total of 173…
Posted by U.S. Consulate General Mumbai on Wednesday, August 5, 2015
The many sports played at this year’s Special Olympics from July 25, 2015 to August 2, 2015 included aquatics, athletics, badminton, basketball, bocce, bowling, cycling, equestrian, football, golf, gymnastics, handball, judo, kayaking, marathon, powerlifting, roller skating, sailing, softball, table tennis, tennis, volleyball, beach soccer, beach volleyball, open-water swimming and triathlon
News Source: NDTV
