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Special
Olympics inspires Pomona team
By Brian Brannon
Daily Forty-Niner
Following a year
of intense preparation, sweating through rigorous weekend
training routines instead of eating pizza or enjoying the
latest blockbuster on the silver screen, three dedicated athletes
and their coach came to Cal State Long Beach last weekend
to participate in the Special Olympics Summer Games.
Jimmy Jue, Yolanda Macias and Eric Dawson, members of the
Pomona Valley Special Olympics Tomcats, made the 38-mile trip
from their homes in the company of coach Laura Ramirez, who
is Macias’ sister.
Though the athletes are considered mentally challenged, they
each chose to take on the additional challenges of competing
in the Summer Games.
Macias is 31years old, and her sister says she has been competing
as a Special Olympian for the past 20 years. Five-foot, three-inches,
with jet-black hair and a twinkle in her eyes, Macias clearly
relishes the spirit of competition and companionship shared
among the 182 athletes who gathered at CSULB last weekend.
Under cloudless skies over the fields near The Pyramid, Macias
said she likes to golf, swim and bowl, but the track and field
events at the Special Olympics are dearest to her heart. Macias
takes the games very seriously and never gives less than her
utmost in any of the events, Ramirez said.
A wheelchair athlete with a ready smile and an indomitable
spirit, Jue is a newcomer to the Summer Games. Enjoying the
sights, sounds, smiling faces and goodie bags given out in
Tent City at the center of the festivities, this rookie Special
Olympian said he is already looking forward to returning to
CSULB next year.
Jue’s favorite food is fried rice. He loves movies, and like
Macias, he enjoys bowling. When something captures his fancy,
he makes a note of it and puts it in his knapsack. For instance,
when his brother said he was looking to buy a new car, Jue
cut out a picture of the exact make and model pasted it in
his notebook.
Dawson is a high school student from Diamond Bar. Lean and
lanky, he looks every bit the part of a professional athlete.
Indeed, says Ramirez, Dawson is a “star runner.” But life
has not been easy for Dawson. He lives in a foster home and
had trouble adjusting to high school. The Special Olympics
have given him something to work toward and look forward to
says Ramirez, and the change has been remarkable.
Reflecting on the weekend’s events, Dawson said, “It was fun,
at first I didn’t want to come, but now I’m glad I did.”
All three Pomona Valley Tomcats brought their game faces to
last weekend’s events. The competition was stiff, as every
athlete subscribed to the Special Olympics’ oath: “Let me
win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”
The key to participation in the games is not comparing yourself
to others, but comparing your performance against what you
know inside is the very best you can do. No matter where each
Special Olympian placed in a given event, their expressions
at the finish left no doubt that they were giving it their
all.
Dawson proved his mettle in the 100-meter run; relay run and
softball throw, while Jue competed in the 30-meter slalom
and 10-, 25- and 30-meter wheelchair events. But it was Macias
who sported the medals on Sunday, wearing gold from the 100-meter
run and silver from the relays.
More than 1700 athletes competed at CSULB last weekend, while
year round, more than one million athletes compete in the
games internationally, said Angela Calderon, public relations
manager for the Southern California Special Olympics.
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Brian Brannon/Summer
On-line Forty-Niner
The Tomcats traveled 37 miles to participate
in the Special Olympics Summer Games. Clockwise from left:
Yolanda Macias, Eric Dawson, coach Laura Ramirez and Jimmy
Jue.
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