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.

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