Special Olympics Great Britain Kayakers Invited to Canoexpo 2008

Special Olympics athletes and World Summer Games 2007 medallists Chris Mills (1 gold, 1 bronze), Richard Wood (1 silver, 1 bronze), Kathryn Smith (2 bronze),  and Heather Osmond (1 bronze) are delighted to be invited to The Canoe Expo – the UK’s largest Canoe and Kayak Show, 16th-17th of February in Stoneleigh Park, Coventry.

The four learning disabled athletes from Warwickshire, West Midlands are looking forward to attend the event with their World Summer Games Head Coach Geoff Smedley and represent the Special Olympics Movement at the Canoexpo. It will be the perfect occasion to proudly show the medals they won during the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai, China, 2-11 October 2007 vs. 165 other countries (see below). One of the big winners was the SOGB kayakers -- even Typhoon Korsa could not stop the 6 team members from bringing home 10 medals!

Since then, Richard Wood from Kenilworth was honoured at the  Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire Sports Awards 2007 as the Disabled Sportsman of the Year while Kathryn Smith was honoured to be invited to Buckingham Palace to meet Queen Anne.

According to event organiser Mark Burch, “There will be thousands of enthusiasts and leading experts attending the Canoexpo.  It is only fitting that a Great Britain kayak team that has represented our country around the world should join us! We should all be very proud of their achievements!”

Also in attendance at the event will be SOGB Ambassador Extreme Kayaker Shaun Baker who will be exhibiting his Jet Kayak and offering encouragement to the team. Missing from the day will be SOGB Ambassador and Olympic/World Champion Anna Hemmings who is training for the Beijing Olympics

Special Olympics is a sports training and competition program for the learning disabled (Paralympics is for the physically disabled, deaf and blind). In GB, there are 8000 athletes that participate, but worldwide there are 2.5 million in 170 countries.

After 4 years of dedicated training, 159 Special Olympics Great Britain athletes returned from Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai with 224 medals, including 84 gold, 83 silver and 57 bronze medals.

The team represented Great Britain against Special Olympics programs from all over the world. In total, 7,200 athletes from 165 countries competed at the Games which took place from 2-11 October 2007. 40,000 volunteers, 3,500 event officials and thousands of families, spectators and journalists from every continent participated in 2007’s largest sporting event in the world.