Special Olympics Bahamas is set to host its annual track and field championships this Saturday at the original Thomas A. Robinson stadium.
Athletes from five islands including New Providence, Abaco, Eleuthera, Exuma and Grand Bahama, will compete in the single-day event. Action on the track runs from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. tomorrow.
“These athletes have been putting in a tremendous amount preparing themselves for this event,” said Special Olympics Bahamas National Director Gilbert Williams.
“A lot of them are training several hours each week, and some are training even more than that. Preparation has been going on since January, so this has been a long time in the making. This means a lot to us and the athletes. It’s important that people know how serious this is. These athletes don’t take any shortcuts in their training.”
Special Olympics Bahamas is currently preparing for the 2019 Special Olympics World Games which is set for March 8-19, 2019, in Abu Dhabi.
The organization kicked off its one-year drive to the event yesterday, bringing awareness to the fundraising plight of Team Bahamas, as it prepares for competition. The delegation will be headed by Williams and Johnneice Blyden.
According to Williams, the country will send a 40-member delegation to the games, with athletes competing in five sports – bocce, unified bowling, swimming, track and field and, for the first time ever, unified soccer.
The delegation is expected to consist of a mixture of New Providence based athletes and coaches, and those from the Family Islands. Williams said that the cost per delegate is $2,600, and the entire trip is expected to total some $104,000.
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