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Grange lauds Jamaican Special Olympians

Published:Wednesday | July 20, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Special Olympics gold medallists Primrose Lafayette (right) and Nigel Davis (left), with Lorna Bell (second left), and Tiffany Wong, at yesterday's appreciation luncheon at the Alhambra Inn in St Andrew. The Jamaican team won 31 medals - 12 gold, 14 silver and 5 bronze - in bocce, roller skating, football, swimming, badminton and track and field, at the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games held June 25-July 4 in Athens, Greece. - Contributed

The Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, Olivia Grange, has praised the "inspirational" Jamaican team to the recent Special Olympics World Summer Games in Athens, Greece.

The Jamaican team won 31 medals - 12 gold, 14 silver and 5 bronze - in bocce, roller skating, football, swimming, badminton and track and field.

At a celebratory luncheon held yesterday at the Alhambra Inn in St Andrew, Minister Grange said the Special Olympics team was an "inspiration to the nation".

She said they were all winners, especially since [they] overcome various challenges every day to achieve.

Minister Grange said she was proud of all the performances, but was particularly pleased by the significance of the victories in the 100 metres, especially by Nembhard Burke and Christopher Donaldson.

The sports minister said: "As a nation, we have been celebrating the fact we have male champions at every level in global athletics championships. Well, Lorna Bell has informed that we should also include Special Olympics in that impressive record.

"The fact is Jamaica won several 100-metre races in various categories at the Summer Games. So thanks to Special Olympics, we can truly say that Jamaica is the only country to hold all the world's major 100-metre titles for males, at all levels, at the same time."