Lord Coe With World Winter Games GB Ski Team

Nearly 30 years ago, Sebastian Coe was honoured to become Special Olympics Great Britain’s (SOGB’s) *** first Ambassador. Thirty years later, Lord Coe was pleased to welcome SOGB’s World Winter Games Ski Team at the offices of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG).

This winter, 3000 athletes from 100 countries will travel to Boise, Idaho to compete at Special Olympics World Winter Games, 7-13 February 2009. SOGB is proud to be sending a delegation of ten learning disabled athletes joined by Minister of Disabled People, Jonathan Shaw MP.

Sebastian Coe commented, “It was a pleasure to welcome these athletes to the offices and hear about their preparation for Special Olympics World Winter Games. We wish them all the best for their competitions.”
Lord Coe warmly greeted the athletes and gave the skiers a London 2012 pin badge and T-shirts. After offering some friendly advice and chatting with them about their skiing and other sporting achievements, he graciously posed for photos with the eager athletes.

In exchange, the skiers gave Lord Coe one of their World Games Tea Towels and a refrigerator magnet. Before Lord Coe left he said he would love the Team to make a return trip to see him in the summer - and to tell him all about the World Winter Games.

*** Special Olympics and Paralympics are two separate organisations. Special Olympics Great Britain is recognised as the third member of the Olympic family, providing year-round sports, sports training, and local, regional, national and international competitions for all learning disability levels. Paralympics provides elite-only level sports competition for multi-disabled groups including physical, blind and deaf.
The team was then escorted for a private look at the 2012 site from the huge balcony of a viewing flat by Alison Nimmo CBE (Director of Planning and Regeneration for 2012). Nimmo pointed out the various venues and the 3,200 people working on the site. The team was awed to learn that by next year there would be more than 10,000 workers on site.

The SOGB World Winter Games Ski Team is made up of representatives from 4 of the 19 different SOGB regions: West Midlands, South Eastern, Wales, Lothian. The team members qualified to race on an international stage after achieving some of the top finishes at the SOGB National Championships in Pila, Italy in the Aosta Valley Region of Italy at 1800m last year.