Two local athletes are thrilled to have earned spots on Special Olympics Team Canada and are preparing to compete on the world stage.
They’re two of 110 athletes who made the cut.
One is a veteran with eight world games under his belt and the other will be heading to the international competition for her first time at the 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games, from March 14 to 25 in Austria. The competition is for people with intellectual disabilities.
Nineteen-year-old Guildford resident Susan Wang (pictured) beams as she talks about heading to Austria.
It’s been a four-year journey for the rookie. Athletes compete in regional qualifiers one year, then provincial games the next, then nationals, which leads to the worlds.
“I can’t believe for my first time competing I’m going to the world level,” said Wang, an alpine skier.“It’s my passion. I love speed and the rush of adventure. I go super fast. It takes all of my stress away. Skiing really helps me so much.”
Wang, who has autism, began hitting the slopes just six years ago at the age of 13. She proved to be a natural.
Most recently, Wang received gold in Giant Slalom at the 2016 National Games in Cornerbrook, Nfld. She also took home bronze in both the Super G and Slalom categories. That was the final stepping stone to qualify for the World Games.
Wang didn’t hesitate when asked what draws her to the sport: “The adrenaline.”
Coach Tom Advocaat said Wang has gone through an impressive evolution.
“I was Susan’s regional head coach for the 2015 Provincial Games in Kamloops last year. She was registered as a novice but it was instantly clear that her technique was well above that,” said Advocaat.
“As a result, Susan was bumped to intermediate, which can often be a problem for some athletes but she went right to the front of the pack.”
While Wang is busy preparing for her first Special Olympics games, Delta resident Marc Theriault is returning for the ninth time.
Theriault, 37, is one of only four athlete inductees in the Special Olympics BC Hall of Fame (pictured).
He was the first athlete in SOBC history to win gold medals at four World Games in three sports.
At the 2016 Special Olympics Canada Winter Games last February, he took home gold in Singles Open, gold in Ice Dance Level 5 and Gold in Level 3 Pairs with partner Tamika Broere-Shaw.
Theriault has collected more than a few medals over his career.
“I don’t come home empty handed,” he said with a grin.
In 1999, he won gold with the Kelowna Grizzles softball team at the World Games in North Carolina, took first place in men’s singles figure skating at the worlds in Alaska and in 2005 won gold at the World Games in Nagano in pairs figure skating.
He also competed with the Surrey Vipers soccer team in 2007 at the Shanghai World Games, winning gold, and once again landed first place in the men’s singles figure skating in 2009 at the World Games in Idaho.
Notably, at a 2001 World Games, Theriault landed the first double jump in Special Olympics history.
Right now he’s busy working on a new skating program, practising three times a week.
“I’m working on some bigger jumps than previous years,” he said. “One of them is a double axel. The other is a triple sow cow.”
Asked what are his most memorable moments in his career, two came to mind.
“In 2007 for the World Summer Games for soccer I scored the game-tying goal in the gold medal game and we also went into a shootout and I scored the game-winning goal,” he said proudly.
But last year in South Korea he received a reward of a different kind.
“That year it wasn’t about the medal,” he revealed. “It was about helping out the new guys. I ended up helping one of them, he was 15 years old, it was his first World Games. He was so nervous before going out on the ice. The stands were full. He just bursted down in tears.
“I tried to make him relax, concentrate. I made him take some deep breaths. At first he was hyperventilating.”
The teen ultimately took home a silver medal. That athlete will also be at the Special Olympics next year and calls Theriault “dad.”
Being a role model is a responsibility he gladly accepts, and he had advice for parents of children with disabilities.
“Some parents might not want to put their kids in (Special Olympics) because they might be embarrassed. But they shouldn’t think that way. It might make their lives better,” said Theriault.
“It might make them more comfortable with the way that they are now. Without sports, I don’t know what I would do.”
