WE are extremely proud — as all Jamaicans must be — of the athletes who represented this country at the just-concluded Special Olympics World Games in Germany.

The Jamaicans ended the June 17-25 games with 18 medals which, as we noted in our report yesterday, are way off the record 33 won at the World Games in the United Arab Emirates in 2019, and the 29 captured at the 2015 Summer Games in the United States. However, as we pointed out, it is a noteworthy haul because in both those previous games Special Olympics Jamaica had significantly larger athlete contingents and competed in a greater number of sporting disciplines.

Mr Akeem Clarke, the Jamaica track and field head coach, told us that he was especially impressed because of the growth he has seen in our athletes over recent months. He said that, given his knowledge of where the athletes started, seeing the level of improvements at the Games made him happy that nine out of the delegation’s 10 athletes are going back home with at least one gold medal.

Ms Lori Scott-Moore, the track and field assistant coach, said she too was proud of the team’s overall performance as they battled the odds and shone brightly for their country.

“In spite of all the challenges leading up to the Games and during the Games… we stayed focused and stuck to our objectives and, at the end, we represented well and did Jamaica proud,” Ms Scott-Moore told this newspaper.

While we extend our heartiest congratulations to all members of the Jamaican delegation, and indeed those from other nations who participated in the World Games, we must point out that their performance has more value than the many medals they won, because it speaks to their ability to overcome their disabilities and compete at the highest level globally.

Indeed, that is one of the goals of these Games where, as the organisers explain, “people with and without disabilities, people of different nations, cultures, political views and religions meet and can overcome existing prejudices with the power of sport”.

The experience, we are sure, has been very rich for all athletes and officials from every nation as events such as this lead to lasting friendships that contribute to peaceful coexistence among humans.

We are told that approximately 7,000 Special Olympics athletes and unified partners from 190 countries competed in 26 sports. They were supported by more than 3,000 coaches and 20,000 volunteers.

Outside of the sporting competition, we are impressed that the Special Olympics movement, in collaboration with the Golisano Foundation and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, gives attention to “creating a world where people with intellectual disabilities (ID) have every opportunity to be healthy”. For, as they correctly put it, inclusive health means people with ID are able to take full advantage of the same health programmes and services available to people who do not have ID.

The organisers also tell us that they support more than 850 youth leaders worldwide in developing projects for a more inclusive future, as they “believe in the power of young people to change the world”.

Those are indeed noble ideals that should be embraced by more of the world’s citizens.

To the Special Olympics movement we say: Well done!