ORLANDO, United States — Special Olympics Jamaica’s (SOJ’s) Anthoney Williams dedicated his gold medal to his parents after he topped Division S-M09 in bocce singles at the USA Games.

In the gold medal match on Tuesday, Williams led from start to finish to defeat Lenard Davis of Texas 11-5.

“I’m feeling excited about the gold medal,” Williams, 16, told the Jamaica Observer on Wednesday as he turned attention to the unified doubles competition.

“I did tell mommy and daddy (Novalene and Patrick Williams) not to worry because I’m going to come home with a gold medal to show them. I told them I’m going to work very hard for the gold medal and carry it to show them,” added the Randolph Lopez School of Hope student.

Williams became almost an instant star — attracting a number of new fans at the venue — after his dominant effort in Tuesday’s match. It also left SOJ bocce Head Coach Hugh McDonald teary-eyed.

It took tremendous grit and skill for Williams to even reach that far.

On Monday, a couple of heroic, comeback victories catapulted him into the first-place contest.

In the opener, he was down 0-7 to Steven Crawley of Colorado before making a stunning turnaround to win 12-7. And later he was 0-4 behind Allen Lynard of Wisconsin before winning 11-9.

Williams, who has prior experience in international bocce when he featured at an invitational youth tournament in Canada in 2019, appeared to take it all in stride as he looked back at the feat.

“I like when I get to do my best playing bocce. I feel that I worked very hard and I just did what my coach is always telling me — to focus and aim properly and you will do well,” he said, adding he was also happy to make his country proud.

McDonald said he was particularly impressed that in the final Williams was firing on all cylinders from the outset.

“Previously, he was coming from behind, but this time he started in front, which was a big plus for him. I could see that he made the effort to do what I spoke to him about — to ‘concentrate on what you’re doing’,” the coach told the Observer.

“To see him step it up, even with the opponent being so competitive, and with everything that happened, I became emotional,” McDonald explained.

In bocce, players use an underarm action to bowl a ball at a target with points awarded based on its proximity to the target.

The Special Olympics programme provides year-round sports training and competition in a variety of disciplines for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.

— Sanjay Myers