Dan Falloon
A little bit of snow and ice wasn’t going to slow down the Special Olympians who competed here last weekend.
Athletes competed in floor hockey, skiing, and snowshoeing while looking to qualify for the provincial games in Thunder Bay next winter.
Organizer Gaby Hanzuk breathed a sigh of relief when vehicles carrying competitors from Thunder Bay, Atikokan, and Terrace Bay rolled in safely.
“Considering the weather was kind of crazy, everything went well,” she enthused. “Everybody showed up, all the athletes, all the volunteers, the communities all came.
“The weather didn’t stop them, that’s for sure.”
The slippery conditions made for a little extra work to get the track for the outdoor events, held at the East End Hall, safe for competition.
Still, the organizing committee was up to the task and the skiing and snowshoeing went ahead as planned.
“It certainly didn’t stop them,” Hanzuk said. “It took us a couple hours to get the track going. Usually, that doesn’t take quite as long.
“We had to make the trails that morning, and it was a little tricky with the snow and the ice packing on top of it, but we managed.”
The crew was responsible for creating two different courses—a short track and a long track.
“The first thing you have to do is measure it out, so we had to measure a 100-metre straight run,” Hanzuk noted. “Then we had to measure out a 200-metre round track to do the rest of the races on.
“The line’s real easy, just going from one end to the other, but making that circle, that kind of an oval, that was a little bit tricky,” she admitted.
“Then you spray paint around the track so that people can see it, and then you go from there.”
In terms of the competition itself, every athlete received a ribbon for each of their events, recognizing the accomplishments of each one.
“I don’t think anybody came down and didn’t get at least a first, second, or third in all of their events,” Hanzuk said.
“We had about 45-50 athletes, so out of those 45-50, they all managed to get a ribbon in everything they went into, so it was great.
“They did really well.”
Clayton Fugate of Fort Frances earned first place in his division in the 100m, 500m, and 1,000m skiing events. Terri-Ann Caul also impressed, picking up a pair of firsts in the 100m and 200m showshoe races.
Meanwhile, the local floor hockey team finished in second place.
Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP John Rafferty was on hand for the opening ceremonies Saturday morning at Robert Moore School, singing “O Canada” with the athletes and taking the athletes’ pledge before the start of competition.
