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Delta’s Special Olympians honoured by council

The 23 athletes brought home 37 medals between them
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Delta’s Special Olympians and their coaches were honoured by Delta council at the meeting on Sept. 11. (Grace Kennedy photo)

More than 20 of Delta’s Special Olympians were honoured for their athletic achievements at a presentation during council on Monday, Sept. 11.

“I’m very pleased to not only welcome you, but congratulate the Delta athletes,” Mayor Lois Jackson said in her speech to the Special Olympians.

“I’m sure your experience at the games was amazing,” Jackson said. “I know you represented Delta proudly.”

The 2017 Special Olympics B.C. Summer Games were held in Kamloops this July. Delta’s athletes brought home a number of medals between the 23 athletes honoured by council:

Soccer team: Jessy Dhaliwal, Ian Mason, Nathan Hudson-McIntee, Alex Mason, Jeff Trafford, Nick Johnston, Travis Meyer, Wesley Gain, David Ton, Che Dhalman and Andy Chan (gold medal)

Bowling team: Tyler Coe, Scott Randall and David Lebedovich (bronze medal)

Golf: Chelsea Kaake (bronze medal) and Brad Smith (fourth place)

Rhythmic gymnastics: Becki Allen (five gold medals), Tiana Kirkegaard (five bronze medals) and Lisa Stratton (gold medal)

Track and field: Kim Davies (two silver medals, bronze medal), Kurtis Reid (three gold medals) and Michael Varley (three silver medals, bronze medal)

Softball: Marc Theriault(gold medal)

This year was the first year the Delta soccer team won a gold medal, coach Stu Holmes said. A few years back, the team won bronze.

“This achievement was probably bigger, and not just because it’s gold. Bigger than that,” Holmes said. “The players all played for each other. They were probably the best team: nobody let anybody down, if anyone was struggling, the rest of them helped.”

“We were hoping, maybe we’ll squeak in for a bronze,” Holmes continued. “These players brought everything they had, right to the last minute.”

Three of Delta’s athletes were selected to join Team B.C. for next year’s national summer games in Nova Scotia. These athletes are Kurtis Reid, for track and field; Becki Allen, for rhythmic gymnastics; and Tiana Kirkegaard, also for rhythmic gymnastics.