Former Jamaican figure skater Nigel Davis says his foundation is sponsoring a community skating challenge to encourage children from many sectors to get actively involved in the sport’s advancement and growth.

The one-day challenge for different age groups will be held at the August Town Primary School on Sunday. The entry fee is $1,500 per person, and winners of each category will be awarded trophies and medals. The event starts at 1 pm.

“I just want to make a difference,” Davis, from August Town, told the Jamaica Observer.

“I love skating, and my aim is to grow the sport in Jamaica, so I want more and more people to get involved. There are a lot of young ones out there who want to skate and who already know how to skate, so the only thing they want is encouragement and support to push forward, and that’s why I am here.

“I started my foundation, the Nigel Davis Foundation, in 2015, and it has been very hard to get sponsorships. I just want to use this challenge to raise money so that I can build the foundation bigger and help more skaters along the way.”

Davis, who won gold in the Figure Skating Singles event at the 2013 Special Olympics Winter Games in South Korea, also expressed his desire for others to develop their abilities and one day represent Jamaica on the international arena, as he did.

“I have accomplished a lot, and so I want to help others realise their dreams as well,” he said. “Growing up, things weren’t easy for me, and so I had to work hard to gain success. Nothing comes easy, and so I want to lay the platform for the next generation of skaters.”

Davis won Coach of the Year during the 34th staging of the Jamaica Special Olympics National Summer Games in 2017.

He led Romaine Austin and Dave Oddman to unprecedented gold medal wins at the 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Graz, Austria.