Issue No. 603
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12 - 18 September 2002 Issue No. 603 Sports |
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Night of the cheers
The Games for the mentally handicapped brought acclaim from participants and spectators alike. Abeer Anwar reports from Lebanon
At the closing ceremony of the third MENA Special Olympics Games, the loudest applause of the evening was reserved for the athletes, all 400 of them, who paraded in front of a packed house at the Sports City Stadium in Beirut.
Click to view captionEgyptians celebrating our victory in the pool, Egypt at the head of the pack in track, neck and neck in swimming, a silver for Egypt in the five-a- side football
Representing 17 countries, the players stood solemnly as the Lebanese national anthem was played, then cheered as the Games' flag was handed to the head of the UAE delegation. The Emirates is to host the fourth Middle East and North Africa Games in 2004.
Those attending the ceremony were all praise. "It was a wonderful opportunity for all countries to unite and exchange experiences," Ayman Abdel-Wahab, MENA's managing director, said. "Palestine and Iraq were also able to participate and this was the real success."
"It was great to have all these athletes competing in various sports here in Lebanon," Hala Al-Husseini, national director of Special Olympics Lebanon and head of the Games' organising committee, said. "All are winners. The volunteers also played a great role in making the Games a success."
"I appreciated very much being invited to such a great event," Mounir Thabet, head of the Egyptian Olympic Committee, said. "I didn't imagine that a tournament for the mentally disabled could be so good. I learned a lot about the athletes and I'll work hard for SO Egypt and its athletes."
At the Royal Palace, President Emile Lahoud hosted Timothy Shriver, SOI president and CEO. Lahoud said he was delighted that Lebanon had been chosen to host the Games, adding that anything that served the mentally disabled would become one of his priorities. He praised the Special Olympics movement "for its great help in supporting mentally challenged children".
Shriver also met Rafiq Al-Harriri, Lebanon's prime minister under whose patronage the Games were held.
Al-Husseini was almost right when she said all were winners. Players and teams were grouped according to the severity of the handicap, meaning that more than one player or team won a gold medal in the same event. It happened in five-a- side football. Jordan won the gold medal in Group A, followed by a silver for Egypt and Tunisia the bronze. In Group B, Saudi Arabia collected the gold, Lebanon the silver and Kuwait the bronze.
In basketball, Egypt won the gold in Group B while Lebanon came second. In Group A, Kuwait collected the gold medal, Jordan the silver and Kuwait the bronze.
Egypt won two gold medals in table tennis, in the 16-22 age category. Mazen Mustafa El- Samahi and Noha Gamal were the victors.
The Sports City Stadium played host to track and field where, in the 100 metres, Egypt's Amr Diaa collected the silver medal. Teammate Nancy Hamid won the gold in the same event for girls.
Ihab Gamal collected the gold in the shot-put in the 16-22 age bracket while Rami Shafiq also took gold in the same event but whose participants were of different handicap levels.
"At last I was able to take the gold medal for the first time in my life," Shafiq said. "My parents will be very happy."
In the 100 metre freestyle, Fahd Faiez collected the gold while teammate Mustafa Abdel- Hamid came in third. In the same event for girls, Egypt's Mai El-Mehelmi took the gold. In the 50m freestyle, Mustafa Galal came second behind Libya's Fahman Al-Sadeq. In another 50m freestyle race for a different category of mentally handicapped swimmers, Egypt's Mustafa Mahmoud secured the gold medal. "I dedicate this medal to my father who is up there," Mahmoud said, pointing to the sky. "I know that he's watching me and will be very happy." Mahmoud's father died last year. Mahmoud's mother, who accompanied him to Lebanon, could not hold back tears as she and her son kept hugging and kissing each other.
In the 25m freestyle, Mustafa Galal came first while teammate Faiez collected the silver. In the 50m breast, Egypt's Heba Khafagi came in first place while Amira Youssef won the silver. In the 25m freestyle for girls, Heba Salah finished in second while in the 50m freestyle, Mai Hisham came first, ahead of Amira Youssef.
A so-called "Healthy Athlete" programme was applied during the Games. A course on the programme given before the Games began was attended by Mark Wagner, Special Olympics International (SOI) Healthy Athlete programme manager and Stephan Corin, SOI university dean. The Lebanese side was represented by Waheed Torouh, SO Lebanon Healthy Athlete coordinator as well as more than 60 dentists.
Doctors called "special smiles" took care of the athletes' teeth -- the Games' focus was to provide healthy teeth and a shining smile. Wagner explained to the trainees how to collect information needed for the programme. Torouh worked on two stuffed animals with artificial jaws and explained to the athletes how to keep teeth and gums healthy and how to clean them properly.
The first MENA Region Youth Summit, which started alongside the Games, included 10 SO MENA athletes and 10 school students from Egypt, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon and Morocco.
The summit was held under the SOI umbrella dubbed Get Into It where athletes and school students are given the chance to mingle with each other and think of how to integrate SO athletes into society.
Delegates at the youth summit told students how influential they could be in changing the world around them and by working on the inclusion of athletes and their friends in society. "They should feel they have a role to play and can change the world," Shriver said. "They don't have to wait until they are older to do something."
Supervising the youth summit was Ron Vederman, SOI school and youth outreach director, Raynel Reese, assistant director, Yasmin Abu Feriekha, SO MENA schools coordinator, and Bahia Maktaabi representing the host country as SO Lebanon schools coordinator.
Athletes and students also heard Ricta Mecarzel, a children's story writer who gave a quick lesson in how to write a story.
The athletes, together with their school teammates, interviewed a number of their colleagues which will appear on the SOI Web site.
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