"In ancient Rome, the Gladiators went into the arena with these words on their lips: Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt. Today, all of you young athletes are in the arena. Many of you will win. But even more important, I know you will be brave and bring credit to your parents and to your country. Let us begin the Olympics. Thank you."
In 2013, Colin participated in his very first Special Olympics Summer Games as a young athlete and this past weekend, Colin ran in his first track races as an official Special Olympic athlete. It is hard to articulate just how amazing the weekend was from the opening ceremonies through both days of competition. We are so proud of all of the many wonderful things that Colin was able to accomplish (2 bronze medals for the 50 meter dash and the 100 meter dash and one 6th place finish for the 4x100 relay) but we are even more proud of the athlete that Colin became. He stood up on the medal stands and supported all of the other competitors and that means more to us than any medal he could ever earn. There were so many moments that I was fortunate enough to witness of people being amazing human beings and there was just so much good that was happening.
If you have never had the opportunity to attend a Special Olympics event, I urge you to give it a try.
"If you seek joy, come and see the Special Olympics. There can no longer be any doubt that people with intellectual disabilities can achieve anything." - Eunice Kennedy Shriver
