Strathmore houses two Special Olympic medalists
By Adelle Ellis, Times Reporter
Adelle Ellis Photo
Emma Bittorf and Justin Thompson returned from the week-long competition last month as champions in their respective sports.
Bittorf, the youngest member on Team Canada at only 15 years old, swung her way to success on the golf course by consistently shooting a 56 three days in a row before shooting a 55 on the final day of the competition, earning her a silver medal.
Having been golfing for seven years and involved with Special Olympics for six, Bittorf is a powerhouse of athleticism and also enjoys swimming, figure skating, skiing and basketball along with practicing golf three to four times a week.
In her debut World Games, Bittorf spent two days practicing and completed one practice round along with the four rounds of competition.
Bittorf struggled at the start of the competition against high winds and making some poor shots that ended her landing in the sand traps.
“I golfed good but some holes ate me up… I kept driving the ball in weird directions and I kept going in the sand traps,” said Bittorf. “It was so windy on the first day I felt like mother nature did not even want me being there.”
On the final day of the competition after shooting her 55 score, Bittorf got off the green and ran to her coach and started crying because she couldn’t believe her success and that she had the opportunity to compete in the competition as the youngest member of the team.
“Then I literally hugged everybody on my team, we did a huge group hug, it was the cutest moment I ever had in my life … the group hug, it meant a lot to me,” said Bittorf, adding that she couldn’t believe she had the opportunity to attend the World Games at only 15 years old when most other competitors were all adults.
Bittorf will attend the Easter Seals Camp Horizon near Bragg Creek this summer, will continue to work on her golf game and keep practicing for a shot at competing at the next World Games in Berlin in 2023, and hopes to audition to get onto Team Alberta for figure skating.
Thompson has been competing with the Special Olympics for seven years and in his debut World Games he managed to freestyle swim his way into one gold medal and backstroked it into another.
Although the 19-year-old took swimming lessons as a kid, he never saw his potential as a swimmer until his Nana told him she believed in him and enrolled him into Special Olympics as he got older.
“Special Olympics is a great community that is all about inclusion and just always helping everyone. It’s (made) me more confident throughout the years because I was a shy kid so it’s helped me be more confident and everything else,” said Thompson, who trains four days a week in Calgary with both Special Olympics coaches and a masters club.
Thompson, who although he now lives in Calgary, still attends classes at Hope Bridges in Strathmore; as he said, they foster an open and positive environment of acceptance and that the confidence he gains through working with the people there transfers into his everyday life and into his swimming.
At the World Games in Abu Dhabi, Thompson won a gold medal in each the 25 metre freestyle and 25 metre backstroke, along with a fourth place finish in the four by 24 metre freestyle relay.
“Not at all did I (expect this), I just went there to have fun. It was a lot of hard work, it took a lot of dedication to get me up to this point and I wasn’t about to stop short,” said Thompson, who was also honoured on March 27 by the Calgary Booster Club at McMahon Stadium with the Special Olympic Athlete of the Year award.
“I didn’t know anything about it before hand … it means a lot because the runners-up are also really amazing athletes and I’m just surprised they picked me,” said Thompson, who can’t narrow down a favourite thing about his experience.
Thompson will continue to remain focused on furthering his Special Olympics swimming career and see what it has in store from him, and hopes that he will be able to return and compete at the next World Games in four years’ time.