Student takes Gold at Special Olympics
A USU special needs student won a gold medal in the 400-meter dash in the 2007 Summer Special Olympics World Games in Shanghai, China in October.
“It was amazing,” Elizabeth Leatham said of her experience. “It was a really good experience to go somewhere that I’d never been before.”
Leatham, a student involved with USU’s Project Postsecondary Education, Employment and Research, which is an organization focused on the interaction of special education students, said she was randomly selected, along with seven other athletes, to be chosen to participate in this year’s world games, which took place Oct. 2-11.
Leatham said she participated and received a medal in three events, taking fifth place in the long jump, fourth place in the relay race and first place in the 400-meter dash.
Along with participating in her Special Olympic events, Leatham said she got to experience Chinese culture, including trying ethnic foods, watching Chinese dancers and participating in various Chinese art projects.
Kerry Done, a post-high special education teacher who works with Leatham at Project PEER, said, “It is a good experience for them to see that everyone is the same everywhere you go in this great big world.”
The Special Olympics World Games take place every two years, the next being the winter games, to be held in Boise, Idaho, Leatham said.
“If I get chosen again, I would like to go,” Leatham said.
Leatham is not the only student from Project PEER involved in Special Olympics programs.
“I would say four to five of our students participate year round,” Done said.
“The program here in Utah is really well-run, and well-funded, and the kids have a variety of opportunities,” Done said. “Some of the students participate in three or four sports during the year.”
Leatham said right now she is participating in basketball as part of the fall sports program.
“I think this program is a wonderful opportunity,” Done said.
Most people with special needs have physical health problems that limit their athletic abilities, Done said.
“In a way, it’s leveling the playing field for them to have the same opportunities as their peers,” she said. “They are just with other people with the same kinds of challenges, so they can compete with one another and have that same opportunity in their lives.”
Leatham said she had a great time, especially by meeting people and having fun with them.
-lindsay.anderson@aggiemail.usu.edu