Three Otago athletes will be among the 2300 athletes taking
part in the 10th Special Olympics World Winter Games in
Pyeong Chang, South Korea, later this month.
Skiers Hugh Brown, from Waitati, and Katrina Hewett, from
Oamaru, and snowboarder Morgan James, from Wanaka, have spent
the past year training and competing to gain a place in the
10-strong New Zealand team.
The athletes, accompanied by six coaches, assistant coaches,
volunteers and parents, will leave Auckland on January 19 and
spend 10 days acclimatising to the cold conditions in Korea
before the games begin on January 29.
Leader of the New Zealand delegation Senior Sergeant Brian
Benn said yesterday this year's Special Olympics, for those
with an intellectual disability, were the largest ever and
featured seven categories including alpine skiing,
cross-country skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, speed
skating, figure skating, floor hockey and demo sport
floorball.
He said the athletes were ''really looking forward'' to the
trip, for which they had been training hard for a year.
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