The Little City Special Olympics Powerlifting team picked up right where it had left off with seven athletes earning gold medals and even more finishing in the top-three of their competitions.
The state-qualifying event in Aurora saw team leaders Simone and Kevin M. take home multiple golds, including a new personal best for Kevin in the deadlift at 405 pounds. The rest of the gold medalists included Jimmy, Tony, Kevin D., Syed and newcomer David. Even those who did not reach gold performed well, with Bobby taking home two silver medals.
“The powerlifting team is so competitive and supportive of each other, you can see it when someone like Bobby gets two silvers and still gets upset because they all expect gold,” said Jacob Blakey, Recreation Operations Manager. “They all did great and now they’re getting ready for the Summer Games in June.”
Jacob, who had his first experience overseeing the powerlifting team, credited the success to the great volunteer coaches and team leaders like Kevin, who came to the event on Saturday just to watch and cheer on his team even though he did not compete until Sunday.
“He’s such a leader,” Jacob said. “He’s always pumping up his teammates and helping them out and they look up to him.”
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