After winning laurels at the Special Olympics World Summer Games in los Angeles, city’s special athletes arrived from Kolkata at the Tatanagar railway station. The team received a grand welcome. Officials of Jharkhand Special Olympics were also present to greet the champions. Mentors OS Ashok Kumar (Football), Rajesh Prasad (Basketball) and Seema Nag (Badminton) – who accompanied the players, also arrived to the steel city.
Special athletes from the steel city made Jharkhand proud by bringing home 7 medals -- 4 gold and 3 bronze -- at the Special Olympics World Summer Games, which concluded at los Angeles on August 2.
While shuttler Gurvir Kaur (Asha Kiran) won the gold in the singles and doubles category, besides a bronze in mixed double, Mamun Rashid (School of Hope) won the 400 m gold and a bronze in the 4x400 m relay. Asha Kiran’s Md Abdul Saquib and Md Shaban topped in soft ball and Tejender Singh and Anurag Chakraborty (Asha Kiran) settled for the bronze in Basketball.
“Our players worked hard at both the national camps and at the JRD Tata Sports Complex. Their efforts brought fruitful results,” he added.
Awtar Singh and Sukhdeep Kaur, founders of Sonari-based Jeevika who were invited as special guests at the Games, also expressed happiness at the performance.
Gurvir said that her confidence level was also very high and she was happy with the result. The special athletes also danced to the tunes of dhol and drums brought at platform number 3 by friends.
Asha Kiran’s Md Abdul Shaquib and Md Shaban said they learnt a lot during their trip to los Angeles. Shaban’s mother Ujjala Begum, with tears in her eyes, said she that she is proud of her son and she was sure that he will bag a medal.
Special Olympics World Summer Games 2015 was held from July 25 to August 2, 2015 in los Angeles, California, USA. This was the largest contingent ever from state of Jharkhand. The Jharkhand contingent was also the largest amongst the East & North-East States.
The 2015 Special Olympics World Summer games featured world-class competitions in aquatics, gymnastics, track and field, basketball, football (soccer) cycling, golf and many other summer sports.