Cold truth about J’can Special athletes
SEOUL, Republic of Korea — Bob Gobrecht, the president and managing director of Special Olympics North America, said he is not surprised that Jamaica are breaking new ground by entering the artistic world of ice figure-skating at the Pyeongchang 2013 Winter Games.
“Nothing surprises me about Jamaica… they are serious about competing on ice and they are not afraid,” said Gobrecht, while looking across at the Jamaican delegation with glowing admiration.
The duo of Tamra Mitchell and Nigel Davis will be the tropical country’s first ever dance skating competitors when they go onto the rink (ice skating surface) in the Championships, which run from January 29 to February 5.
While some see it as a daring and exciting venture and others deem it to be a fruitless move, Gobrecht suggested the difference in climate to Korea’s winter and the relative unfamiliarity in the event, will not be a major hindrance.
“If there is a country in the world that is more sports-crazy and more likely to try that (figure-skating) than Jamaica I have not seen them yet. Certainly in North America there is no country that has a greater passion for sports and for Special Olympics than Jamaica.
“There is so much pride in accomplishments. The economy can be up, the economy can be down…. the world situation can be up or down but sports is always the passion of your nation,” he added.
Meanwhile, the other 16 members of the Jamaica team will look to repeat the floor hockey gold medal that was won four years ago in Idaho.