Courtesy: KMTV News
Liberia has won its first gold medal at 2019 Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi.. Athlete Ehiabom Salim Assaf finished 1st in the 200-meter race to secure Liberia’s first Gold medal.
Liberia Special Olympics team is participating in this year’s edition of the Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
The sporting event is taking place from March 14 to 21, 2019. The Special Olympics World Summer Games is a multi-sport event for athletes with intellectual disabilities in the tradition of the Special Olympics movement.
The country’s Special Olympic delegation, headed by its president Rev. Caleb Dormah, departed the country on March 10, 2019. According to Mr. Dormah, four Liberian athletes with intellectual disabilities will compete in the 200 and 100 meters in the track and field category.
The team has for the past weeks intensified training at the Samuel Doe Sports Complex ahead of its departure.
This year’s event has brought together about 7,500 athletes, 3,000 coaches and 20,000 volunteers from 190 countries.
Special Olympics is the world’s largest humanitarian sporting event and a global movement which focuses on the empowerment of People of Determination with intellectual disabilities through the power of sport. The event is under the Patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, whose leadership and vision have been instrumental in bringing together public and private sector partners to be a part of this worthy cause.
It is being hosted in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates for the first time in the Middle East, North Africa since the movement’s founding over 50 years ago. The Crown Prince Court led the winning bid efforts with a mission to promote positive social change for people with intellectual disabilities and create a more inclusive society.