(CMR) The Cayman Islands Special Olympics team is performing extremely well at the Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi.
Yesterday the Unified basketball team had a day off so they went down to Healthy Athletes. Today they moved into the medal rounds where they beat Namibia 21 to 16. Tomorrow they are in the gold medal round against India.
The team has also performed well in Swimming with the following results:
Alec Cox – 1st in the 800 Free
Kanza Bodden – 7th in the 800 Free
Rasheed Lawrence – 5th in the 800 Free
Dayana – 2nd in the 100 Free
Track & Field results were also very promising:
Jordan McLean 3rd in 100 m
Tomorrow athletes will be performing the 800 m with 4 x 100 relays.
The Special Olympics World Games Abu Dhabi 2019 is the largest ports and humanitarian event on the planet this year; featuring 7,500 athletes from 190 nations.
Athletics are also able to take advantage of Healthy Athletes.
According to their website initial research conducted by Special Olympics determined that very little was known about the health status of this population, and that people with intellectual disabilities simply were not on the radar of most health organizations, policymaking bodies, universities, or health care associations. Called into action, Special Olympics began to explore ways to address the disparities faced by its athletes, using its unique global reach and access to people with intellectual disabilities. The result was the official launch of the Special Olympics Healthy Athletes® initiative in 1997.
Since then, Healthy Athletes has provided more than 1,400,000 free health exams to athletes and trained more than 120,000 health care professionals worldwide. Exams are conducted in a fun, welcoming environment and include seven different areas: general fitness, podiatry, hearing, vision, dental hygiene, healthy lifestyle choices, and sports physicals. Healthy Athletes has also evolved into a leading educator on the health of people with intellectual disabilities and an advocate for improved health care policies. The program’s impact has been monumental, offering life-altering – and literally life-saving – opportunities for Special Olympics athletes and their families.
Cayman has 18 athletes and seven unified partners at the games.
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