Published: May 09, 2008 11:30 am            

Special Olympics offers much more to athletes

Special Olympics offers a variety of benefits to different people — fun, competition, friendship, dreams and even a dating service, to name a few.

All of these could be found on the Oklahoma State University intramural field turned horseshoe pit Thursday afternoon. There were 73 individual competitors, as well as 40 athletes and 15 partners for the unified competition, according to Tulsa volunteer Harlan Guthrie.

Many of the people participating in the competition were dressed in “highlighter shirts” and came from Catoosa High School. A program began eight years ago when Shelley Gibson, CHS teacher, had a student who began helping with Special Olympics.

After asking if any other students would like to help with the event, Gibson has seen the program flourish. For the 2008 Summer Games in Stillwater, Gibson and Catoosa High School had 13 athletes and 13 partners for unified events attend.

“They are friends. They go to the dances with them. They make sure they are accepted,” Gibson said, who received the 2008 Coach of the Year Award during the Opening Ceremonies on Wednesday. “It’s a lot of work, and I go home from these things so exhausted. But it’s worth it.”

Gibson said to see the smiles on the athletes and partners faces make it more than worth while.

“It’s a legal drug,” Gibson said of Special Olympics. “If you go once, you’ll be hooked.”

That was the case for Rachel Magness, junior at CHS, who has participated as a partner in the event since her freshman year.

“I like to help the younger kids. They’re special, too,” Magness said. “Even if we don’t win, it’s rewarding to just hang out and talk about boys.”

The athlete partnered with Magness became a little embarrassed with a flushed face as her secret for wanting to attend Special Olympics was revealed.

“The boys,” said Apryl Robinson, sophomore athlete.

While Robinson claims to have her own agenda of scoping out the guys at this event, there is no secret to how good of an athlete she is. Deadlifting 155 pounds was more than enough for Robinson to win one of her three gold medals Wednesday. She also won the bench press competition and the combination event, which is both the deadlift and bench press.

“We practice a lot,” Robinson said. “Forty-five minutes a day.”

That hard work paid off Thursday as well, as she won the individual gold medal in horseshoes, as was competing with Magness for the unified competition later Thursday afternoon.

“She’s a very competitive young lady,” Gibson said.

The relationships built between the athletes and partners goes past the athletic events every year.

“They are doing it because they love it,” said Gibson. “They work hard. Do you see this? You see how they are interacting — smiles on their faces?”

        

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