Special Olympics Team USA

Teams had the morning off on Monday, so many athletes and coaches ventured out into Athens for sightseeing and shopping. Several groups took this last chance to see the Acropolis, while others finished picking up souvenirs for loved ones.

In the early evening, everyone loaded buses and headed to Closing Ceremonies. The show featured lots of local entertainment, but the biggest attraction for some athletes was the opportunity to trade clothing items with athletes from other countries. Team USA’s Loudmouth houndstooth shorts were a hot item. By the time we left Closing Ceremonies, Team USA athletes and coaches were decked out in attire from Italy, Germany, Cyprus, Hungary, Australia, Russia and Greece. During the many musical performances, Team USA rushed to the bottom of the grandstands for an impromptu dance party. The ceremony also featured a preview of South Korea, the site of the 2013 World Winter Games. As the ceremony drew to a close, many athletes suddenly realized that this amazing journey was about to end, and tearful hugs broke out across the stadium. 

Team USA headed back to their respective hotels for a late-night dinner, then went to bed for a few short hours before heading to the airport. Everyone loaded onto two airplanes and took off for the United States early Tuesday morning. During a refueling stop in Shannon, Ireland, Team USA was met with banners, balloons and goodie bags from the airport staff. Passengers from the first flight were also cheered through the airport by more than 300 U.S. military servicemen and women who happened to be there at the same time. The athletes showed off their medals and ribbons, then cheered as the servicemen loaded their own aircraft and departed. Shortly before each flight landed in Baltimore, pillow fights broke out on the planes with athletes and coaches alike tossing the small airline pillows around the cabins.

Upon arrival in Baltimore, a crew of local fans cheered as Team USA exited the airport. Back at the hotel, the team was treated to an all-American buffet of corn on the cob, potato salad, hamburgers and ice cream. Despite the long travel day, athletes packed the dance floor for one last chance to socialize with their teammates. Miss America, Teresa Scanlan, was on hand to sign autographs and take photos with the athletes. Several teams had meetings to share their memories and say final goodbyes.

Delegations will continue their trip home Wednesday. We’ll post an announcement on the Team USA website once we have word that all members have reached their final destination.

Thank you for being a fan of Team USA!

• View official results here. You can search by athlete name or click on Team USA.
• Check out more photos on our website and Facebook page. We will continue to add photos as we process them. In particular, there is an entire album of gymnastics photos that will be uploaded.
• Do you have a favorite memory or photo from World Games? Share it with other fans on our Facebook page.

Competition concluded Sunday for the 2011 World Summer Games.

Tennis players had some very tough matches. John Doring earned a gold medal.

Both Volleyball teams won their games, earning gold medals! Texas beat Austria, while Alabama beat Turkey. Both teams were undefeated in competition play during the World Games.

Sailing was “nothing short of fantastic,” according to coach Jack Yoes. Six of our seven teams earned medals, and everyone had a great time. Ledwidge/Johnsen earned silver, Brown/Jones earned gold, Heins/Stines earned silver, Smurlo/Connolly earned bronze, Cameron/Hoight earned bronze, Bertucci/Bertucci earned silver and Dietrich/Battista earned 5th place.

Bowling Team 5 earned 4th place ribbons and Team 3 earned 6th place ribbons. They participated in a Unity Sports Event, featuring Team USA athletes Patrick Underly, Mitchell Isham and Jackie Fuller.

The Basketball team played an exhibition game against the Unity team, which included Sam Perkins and Dikembe Mutombo. Team USA won the game.

Equestrian athletes completed team relays on Sunday. Rashawn Young and Wallace Gamble earned gold. Meghen Blumberg and her partner from Team Ireland earned silver.

Bocce has concluded at the 2011 World Games! After today’s doubles play, all Team USA bocce players will bring home a medal! They concluded doubles play with two gold medals, five silver medals, one bronze and three fifth place entries. Final results for doubles can be found here. Sunday evening, the team took advantage of some time at the hotel and began trading some of their Team USA gear with other countries. During the day Monday, those who haven’t seen the Acropolis will head out in the morning, while others will either shop or stick around the hotel. 

Cyclists Amanda Mickan and Syd Lea wrapped up competition with distance races on Sunday. Amanda earned a bronze medal for her 25K race, and Syd earned gold for the 40K race.

Athletes really stepped up for the final day at the Track. Three athletes achieved personal bests despite not feeling well. Karen Dickerson earned gold in the half marathon, and James Holder earned bronze. Mary Lou Nachtwey earned a gold medal in the 800-meter walk, and Mary Beth Hawley earned silver. In the mini javelin, Abe Assaad and Stacey Stevenson earned gold, while Dave DeFino earned silver. Louie Perry earned a gold medal for the 1500-meter run.  Ryan Barts earned a silver medal in the long jump, and Jake Kaufman earned a silver in the 100-meter run. Michelle Moseley had a personal best, however, it was such an improvement over her preliminary score that she exceeded the 15% rule and was disqualified. The team celebrated by visiting the Acropolis.

The heavyweights lifted Sunday at Powerlifting. Brady Tanner earned three gold medals and one silver. Daniel Hester earned four bronze medals. John Yates earned one gold medal and three silver. Jermaine Edie earned two silver medals and two 4th place ribbons. Anthony Madaris earned four 4th place ribbons.

Shailah Brousseau closed out Team USA’s Gymnastics competition Sunday morning.  She received three bronze medals and two 4th place ribbons.  She did a fantastic job and it turned out to be a great day. The team returned to the gym at 5 pm for a Gym Show, which was fantastic.

It was a short but busy day at Aquatics. Athletes completed relays, 400-meter freestyle races and 200-meter breast stroke races. Among the awards were Chris McMullen with a gold, Alex Hayes with a silver, Mason Coad with a gold and Kevin Zwart with a gold on his 22nd birthday!

Monday, Team USA will attend Closing Ceremonies. www.espn3.com will stream the ceremony live on their website starting at 1:30 pm EST. There will be no Team USA update until we return to Baltimore on Tuesday.

Links:

• View official results here. You can search by athlete name or click on Team USA. While this site is being updated frequently, it is not live.
• View more photos on our website and Facebook page.

Bocce has concluded at the 2011 World Games! We are very proud that after today’s doubles play, all Team USA bocce players will bring home a medal! They concluded doubles play with two gold medals, five silver medals, one bronze and three fifth place entries. Final results for doubles can be found below. Sunday evening, the team took advantage of some time at the hotel and began trading some of their Team USA gear with other countries. During the day, those who haven’t seen the Acropolis will head out in the morning, while others will either shop or stick around the hotel.   
 
The entire bocce staff would like to thank you for your support throughout this journey.  We enjoyed meeting so many families here in Athens, and talking to many others along the way.  We’re very proud of all of our athletes and what they have accomplished here, and we’re sure you will be celebrating with your athlete after returning home.  

Team Div   Match 1 Match 2 Match 3 Match 4 Match 5 Result
USA 1 (McKeon / Altman) M08 W 9-4 L 10-3 W 6-2  L 7-3    Silver Medal!
USA 2 (Boehme / Collins) M14 L 10-2 L 5-4      5th Place!
USA 3 (Bunszel / Westrope) F06 W 11-1 W 6-5 W 13-1    Gold Medal!
USA 4 (Cavanaugh / Johnson) M01 W 12-7 L 9-3 L 12-4   Bronze Medal!
USA 5 (DeVries / Holmes) M09 W 12-2  W 9-3  W 13-2    Gold Medal!
USA 6 (Ervin / Reeves) M06 L 9-4 L 10-4       5th Place!
USA 7 (Floyd / Guseman) M05 W 6-4 W 12-0 L 7-7  L 12-3   Bronze Medal!
USA 8 (Gorski / Nykiel) M09 L 12-2  L 7-6        5th Place!
USA 9 (Lew / Prettyman) F07 W 6-3 L 6-4 W 9-8 L 12-3   Silver Medal!
USA 10 (Ruley / Swain) F06 L 8-2 W 12-0 W 6-2 W 8-4 L 13-1 Silver Medal!
USA 11 (Wirsing / Westgate) L 7-3 W 9-3  W 7-4 W 11-2 L 8-1 Silver Medal!

USA’s team sports swept the competition Saturday!

The Basketball team collected their gold medals after scoring so high that they were placed in their own division. They will play an exhibition game against the Unity Sports Event team on Sunday at 4 pm.

It was a very close game, but the Softball team beat Russia for the second time in two days to secure the gold medal. The final score was 11-10. Six athletes participated in a Unity Sports Event after their big win. Celebrities included Sam Perkins, Tim Shriver and Joe Jonas.

Team USA Soccer pulled out a final win and also earned gold medals.

The Alabama Volleyball team defeated Japan on Saturday. They will play Turkey at 11:10 am Sunday. The Texas team is undefeated in medal round play. They will play for the gold medal on Sunday at 11:10 am.

Powerlifters had a busy day Saturday. Craig Maurer earned a gold, two silvers and a bronze. Carlos Henderson earned two silver medals and two participation ribbons. Elizabeth Kendall earned two silver medals and a 4th place ribbon. Angelo Mascheroni earned two gold medals, a silver medal and a 5th place ribbon. Chris Currere earned four 4th place ribbons. Powerlifting competition will wrap up Sunday with Brady Tanner and Daniel Hester at 9:30 am and Anthony Madaris, Jermaine Edie and John Yates at 1:30 pm.

Tennis completed doubles and awards on Saturday and began singles competition. Singles competition will continue Sunday at 9 am followed by awards. They will participate in a Unity Sports Event at noon.

The Gymnastics team went to cheer on the USA softball soccer teams Saturday.  The athletes really enjoyed cheering on the other Team USA athletes. After the game, they went to cheer on Danielle Blakeney for her Level 3 finals of rhythmic. She did an awesome job on all her routines and ended up medaling in all of her events - Danielle received three gold medals, one silver and one bronze.

The Golfers spent the day at the golf course receiving their awards before returning to the hotel, where an inpromptu trading session broke out with Australia and Canada. Now that competition and awards are finished, the golf team plans to travel to the Acropolis on Sunday and relax as they wind down before Closing Ceremonies and the return flight home to the United States. Click here for the full golf results.

It will be another busy day at the Track on Sunday. Competition starts at 9 am and includes the half marathon, female 800-meter walk, female long jump, male and female 1500-meter run, female 200-meter run, male and female javelin and male 100-meter run.

Equestrian athletes had a full house of awards on Saturday: Alexandra Pope earned a gold medal, Matt Schoenbauer earned silver, Matt Dull took home bronze and Meghen Blumberg received a 4th place ribbon. They will wrap up competition Sunday with team relays featuring Meghen Blumberg, Wallace Gamble and Rashawn Young.

Team USA’s Cyclists went the distance on Satuday, completing the 15K, 25K and 50K races. Syd Lea received a gold medal for his Friday race as well as for Saturday’s 25K. Jason Greenhalgh and Mark O’Brien earned silver and bronze respectively in the 50K race. Amanda Mickan received a 4th place ribbon for the 15K. After competition, the team visited the Acropolis and celebrated with a pizza party. They will wrap up competition on Sunday with Amanda’s 25K road race at 9 am and Syd’s 40K road race at 11 am, followed by a Unity Sports Event featuring Kenny Jones and Amanda.

It was a beautiful day for Sailing on Saturday. The teams will complete the final three races in competition on Sunday, followed by awards.

Aquatics athletes completed finals in the 200-meter backstroke and 100-meter breaststroke. Click here for a rundown of the results. They also finished prelims for the 4 x 50 relays. Sunday’s competition will wrap up with finals in the 400-meter freestyle, 50-meter butterfly, 200-meter breast stroke and the 4 x 50 relays.

Kayakers finished competition Saturday. U.S. Ambassador to Greece Daniel Smith presented the awards. Team USA earned a silver medal, two bronze and a 5th place ribbon in the 200-meter race.

Five of the seven Bowling teams competed Saturday. USA 3 earned gold medals, USA 1 earned silver, USA 5 earned bronze, and both USA 6 and USA 7 earned 4th place ribbons. The final two teams will compete on Sunday, followed by a Unity Sports Event at 1 pm featuring three Team USA bowlers.

Doubles competition started Saturday at the Bocce venue. Team USA took home a silver medal, two bronze and one 5th place ribbon.  Athletes who were not competing cheered on Team USA soccer and visited other sports venues at the OAKA complex. Seven teams will compete on Sunday and receive some of the final awards of World Games. Click here for the full rundown of Saturday’s competition and Sunday’s schedule. Jennifer Ruley will play and Greg Floyd will be an official for a Unity Sports Event at 5:30 pm.

Results from Saturday’s Aquatics competition:

200M Backstroke
Maria D’Andrea – gold medal
David Foust – bronze medal
Chris McMullen – gold medal

100M Breast stroke
Jennifer Bensman – silver medal
Kathie Herrera – silver medal
Cody Missimer – bronze medal
Jake Sawyer – 6th place ribbon
Kelly Shepherdson – participation ribbon

Bowlers had another busy day collecting medals and ribbons. In all, they earned six gold, five silver, four bronze, four 4th place, seven 5th place, two 6th place and two 8th place on Friday. Lori Boettner overcame a 56-pin deficit to score a personal best of 109 and earned the gold medal! Five bowling teams will compete on Saturday.

Friday at the Kayaking venue, James Purnell and Samantha Disanti were awarded gold medals in the 500-meter race. Robert Lord earned a silver and Marcus Gary received a bronze, also in the 500-meter race. One athlete and both coaches also competed in the Unity Sports Event in the Dragon Boat race with Special Olympics CEO Tim Shriver. Saturday, athletes will compete in the 200-meter finals starting at 9 am.

There will be three Sailing competition races Saturday.

The Alabama Volleyball team defeated Turkey Friday morning in three sets: 25-19, 23-25, 15-4. They will play Japan in the semifinals Saturday at 10:10 am. The Texas team won both of their games Friday and will have a day off on Saturday. 

It was an exciting day at the Cycling venue. Jason Greenhalgh took home another gold medal and Kenny Jones earned 4th place in the 5K time trials. Syd Lea completed the 25K with ease. Although he was in the second division, he was the first athlete to cross the finish line from either division! Jason, Syd and Mark O’Brien will compete in the 15K road race starting at 10 am Saturday, and Amanda Mickan will compete in the 15K road race at 11 am.

Shailah Brousseau completed prelims in rhythmic Gymnastics Friday morning and did really well. The rest of the gymnastics team went to OAKA and the Festival, where they walked around and did some souvenir shopping. In the afternoon, they went to support the USA softball team who came out with a win. Danielle Blakeney will compete in rhythmic gymnastics at 4 pm Saturday.

The awards stands at the Golf venue will rock with red, white and blue on Saturday as the Team USA golfers step up to collect their eight gold, seven silver, four bronze and three 4th place awards following the final day of competition on Friday. Among the gold medalists was Richard Heath of Florida, who celebrated his birthday by winning his division of the Level 5 competition.  Team USA golfers posted the lowest female Level 5 (Individual 18-Hole), male and female Level 4 (Individual 9-Hole) and male Level 2 scores of the World Games.

The Softball team beat Russia 22-9. Because this was the first game Russia has lost, they will play again Saturday at 11 am to secure the gold medal.

The ladies of Powerlifting had a successful day. April Cason earned two silver medals and a bronze medal. Kellieta Claborn earned three 4th place ribbons. Randi Penenburgh earned a gold medal. Craig Henderson, Elizabeth Kendall and Craig Maurer will compete at 9:30 am Saturday, and Chris Currere and Angelo Mascheroni will compete at 1:30 pm.

The Soccer team will play for the gold medal at 12:45 pm Saturday.

Tennis learned Friday that all 20 of their athletes will receive at least one medal! Katie Vandenbosch had the coaches biting their nails until she won a very close match. Tennis singles will wrap up on Saturday with Adam Snodgrass, Lucas Blattel, Robin Lincke, Valerie Stiffy and Krista Genter competing at 9 am and Leita Keller and Glenn Jones competing at 10 am. 

Satuday will be a busy day at the Track. Athletes will compete in the 200-meter male race and the female high jump at 9 am, the high jump/pentathlon at 9:50 am, the 800-meter female race at 10:50 am and the 800-meter male race at 11:20 am. In the afternoon, the schedule includes the 400-meter/pentathlon at 12:20 pm, the 100-meter female race at 12:50 pm and the male high jump at 1 pm.

Equestrian athlete Matt Schoenbauer took home a gold medal Friday. Alexandra Pope earned silver, Johanna Schoeneck earned bronze and Matt Dull earned a 4th place ribbon. Saturday’s schedule includes working trails competitions for levels A & C at 9, 10 and 11:12 am and 1:39 pm.

Bocce men’s singles wrapped up on Friday. Most awards ceremonies will take place on Saturday, however, Raymond Ervin received his gold medal Friday, which is his birthday. The team sang “Happy Birthday” to him on the award stand. The ladies spent Friday at the Acropolis and shopping. The team took a trip to the Planetarium in the evening. Doubles competition will begin Saturday. Click here for Friday’s full results and Saturday’s complete schedule.

Aquatics competition for Saturday morning will include the 200-meter backstroke at 9 am, the 25-meter freestyle at 10 am and the 100-meter breast stroke at 11:30 am. Afternoon competition includes the 100-meter individual medley at 1:20 pm, the 50-meter male freestyle at 2 pm and the 25-meter female backstroke at 4 pm.

The Basketball team will have the day off Saturday.

Friday’s results:

Josh Altman – Final record 2-2, SILVER MEDAL!

Tyler DeVries – Final record 0-2, 4TH PLACE!

Chris Holmes – Final record 0-2, 4TH PLACE!

Jeff Johnson – Final record 4-2, SILVER MEDAL!

Padraig Westgate – Final record 1-2, BRONZE MEDAL!

Kevin Collins　- Final record 0-2, 4TH PLACE!

Jason Gorski – Final record 1-2, BRONZE MEDAL!

Greg Floyd – Final record 3-2, SILVER MEDAL!

Brock Guseman – Final record 1-2, BRONZE MEDAL!

Ray Ervin – Final record 3-1, GOLD MEDAL!

Boyd Reeves – Final record 2-2, SILVER MEDAL!

Mike Cavanaugh – Final record 1-2, BRONZE MEDAL!

Saturday’s schedule:

It was a beautiful day at the Golf venue as athletes and Unified Partners started their first day of official competition. Several athletes had record or near-record scores. Greg Focht and Jeff Minor participated in a Unity Sports Event with the CEO of Procter & Gamble. They will finish competition Friday and receive awards on Saturday. 

The Basketball team won its exhibition game 61-35. They have been placed in their own division, so they played against a local group Thursday. They have Friday off.

Softball won its second game 15-2 against Canada. They will play Russia Friday at 1 pm local time to decide the gold medal.

Sailing competition was canceled due to wind. Friday was scheduled to be the team’s day off, but they will use it as a make-up day instead.

Powerlifters had Thursday off. They went to the Acropolis, shopped and ate dinner at a local pizzeria.

Kayakers had Thursday off and went to the Acropolis. They will complete the 500-meter race and dragon boat race on Friday. In addition, Special Olympics CEO Tim Shriver will visit the team and complete a special race with one of the athletes and two coaches. 

Soccer tied its game against Spain. The team plays Saturday at 12:45 pm for the gold medal.

Both Volleyball teams had Thursday off. Several athletes went sightseeing with family members, while others cheered on Team USA’s basketball team. Alabama will play Turkey at 9:30 am, and Texas will play Austria at 1 pm and Korea at 3:20 pm.

Team USA athletes spent plenty of time on the awards stands over at Athletics Thursday. They will compete in the male high jump at 9 am, high jump and penthatlon at 9:50 am, 800-meter female race at 10:50 am and 800-meter male race at 11:20 am.

Aquatics athletes had finals in the 50-meter backstroke, 200-meter freestyle and 4×50 medley relay. The athletes earned a total of 13 medals and seven ribbons. Friday, they will have morning prelims and afternoon finals for the 50-meter freestyle, 100-meter individual medley and 25-meter backstroke. Sam Silver, who introduced open water swimming to Special Olympics, will compete at the sailing venue.

The Bowlers cleaned up today with five gold, three silver, two bronze, three 4th place, six 5th place, one 6th place, and two 8th place. Athletes who were not competing went to Healthy Athletes. More than half of the team has Friday off and will go sightseeing.

Thursday, the Gymnastics team slept in, and six of the 10 gymnasts spent the day with their parents.  One of our rhythmic gymnasts, Danielle Blakeney, had prelims Thursday afternoon from 3:30 – 5 p.m.  The other athletes hung out with one of the coaches and supported the softball team during their game at 11.  After the game, a small group went to visit the Acropolis and the Parthenon and did some souvenir shopping.  All of this was followed by dinner at a small Greek restaurant. 

At the Equestrian venue, Matt Schoenbauer earned gold in equitation. After playing it cool on the awards stand, he burst into tears when he embraced his mother, who said seeing his reaction was worth the price to get to Greece. Matt Dull earned 4th  and Alexandra Pope earned silver in the same division of equitation. Jessica Feick also earned silver in equitation. Six of the athletes will complete working trails tomorrow: David McInerney at 9:40 am, Wallace Gamble at 10:15 am, Maria Marinucci and Rashawn Young at 11 am, and Leigh Garner and Johanna Schoeneck at 11:25 am.

Bocce ladies finished their singles competition Thursday. Ten of the 11 females received a medal, and they celebrated with ice cream. Men started singles play Thursday and will finish Friday. The ladies will spend their day off Friday at the Acropolis and the pool. Click here for Thursday’s full results and a complete schedule for Friday.

It was a very successful day for the Cyclists. Amanda Mickan earned a bronze medal, Mark Zac earned silver and Jason Greenhalgh took home gold. After competition, the team went to Healthy Athletes. Mark O’Brien will be receiving a new pair of glasses before leaving Greece. On Friday, Jason Greenhalgh, Kenny Jones and Mark Zac will complete 5K time trials starting at 9 am. Mallory Smith will have a 10K time trial at 10:50 am, and Syd Lea will start the 25K at 11:40 am.

Back at the Golden Coast hotel, athletes enjoyed a dance with their new friends from around the globe. Team USA’s delegation liasions threw this dance as a special treat.

Links:

• Results: Click this link and search by athlete name or Team USA. This page is being updated frequently but is not instant.
• View more photos on our website and Facebook page.
• View videos from this week on P&G’s Thank you, Mom Facebook page.
• Article on Sam “The Iceman” Silver from the World Games blog.