Three gold, a silver for SOJ on penultimate day of World Games
BERLIN, Germany — The determination and talent of the Special Olympics Jamaica (SOJ) athletes were on full display as they won four more medals, including three gold, on Saturday’s penultimate day of the 2023 World Games.
Richard Smikle coasted to victory in the men’s 100m Level A final and returned to anchor the 4x100m relay team to gold at the Olympiapark track in Berlin.
The Jamaica women’s 4x100m quartet matched their compatriots by executing smooth baton changes to close out track competition on Saturday.
On the badminton court at Messe Berlin, SO Jamaica’s Kile Ford won silver in Division 2 of the men’s singles.
The four medals brought Jamaica’s count to 15, with the possibility of more on Sunday, given the country is to be represented in both the men’s and women’s 400m races.
SOJ track and field Head Coach Akeem Clarke was particularly impressed by the women’s relay team of Sheneel Williams, Kayanna Kelly, Moesha Rankine, and Allanika Gordon.
They clocked 1:03.65 minutes to beat SO Thailand (1:05.23) and SO Germany 1:06.34.
“I must say big congrats to both teams for working together to ensure that no error was made throughout the legs of the relays. The way the female relay team executed just shows the level of dedication and fighting spirit that’s within the group,” Clarke told the Jamaica Observer.
The coach credited 21-year-old Smikle for expertly conserving energy to register 12.66 seconds in the individual 100m, beating Matthew Bugeja (12.96) of Malta and Wai Ki Tang (14.12) of SO Hong Kong.
“The race had to be a relaxed one for Smikle. Going into the race, I informed him just to get the gold, don’t think about running a fast time, seeing that we had the relays later in the day. He followed the coaches’ instruction and ran easily to take gold,” he explained.
The men’s 4x100m team, comprising Smikle, Isaiah Simms, O’brian McFarlane, and Allan Gordon (Allanika’s brother) ran 48.97 seconds to finish well ahead of SO Cayman Islands (50.55) and SO Canada (54.90).
The track and field coach said he was also encouraged by the performances of Simms and Rankine in their respective men’s and women’s 100m races, though both failed to medal.
Meanwhile, Ford, 20, who had already combined with Travis Ebanks to win silver in men’s badminton unified doubles at these Berlin 2023 Games, walked away with another second-place finish when he beat Hans Jakob Skree of Norway 21-15, 21-18 in singles action.
Badminton Coach Joseph Clarke told the Observer he was overcome with emotion after Ford’s victory.
“I was so happy when he won because I know how much it means to him. I almost cried at the court. I could not have asked for a better Cinderella story ending,” he said, noting Ford’s growth during the World Games.
“We spent months preparing him, pushing him a bit outside of his comfort zone to make him prepared for this. For them [Ebanks and Ford] to win a silver in the doubles against more seasoned pairs is remarkable, and then young Kile, on his own, wins a silver in singles is nothing short of a blessing and a miracle,” the badminton coach said.
Through sport activities and competition, the Special Olympics movement aims to break down barriers that exclude people with intellectual disabilities, such as autism and Down syndrome, from mainstream society.
The disabilities can either be acquired or genetic and can also include cases of cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury, and some cases of developmental delay.
The unified sports programme, a focus of the Special Olympics, combines people with intellectual disabilities and those without disabilities in training and competition.
Special Olympics Jamaica won a record 33 medals at the World Games in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, four years ago after tallying 29 at the 2015 global event in Los Angeles, United States.