Anyone who has ever walked along a beach knows the feeling: sandy ground requires twice as much strength from your legs. Things get even trickier if you run with two large plates under your feet instead of running shoes. They are actually made for snow. But the mild winter left Lea Gschwandtner no choice: the riding arena in Ried had to be used as a training area. From Thursday, the 28-year-old snowshoe runner will show what she can do – as a participant in the Special Olympics Austria.
Image: private
The special “games” are aimed at people with intellectual disabilities and are held worldwide. Lea Gschwandtner already took part in the Summer Games in Abu Dhabi. “It was a little warmer there than where we are now,” says the Innviertel native. This time the national winter games are taking them to Schladming. Some of their colleagues from Lebenshilfe Oberösterreich are competing in Ramsau, Seiersberg-Pirka or Graz. Upper Austria is represented by 153 athletes, with a total of around 1,100 registered.
Overcome obstacles
Daniel Gruber is one of 86 participants competing in the MATP discipline. The “Motor Activity Training Program” challenges people who enjoy exercise and require a lot of care, like Daniel Gruber. For the 34-year-old from Seewalchen am Attersee, his wheelchair is not an obstacle, but rather a help in overcoming obstacles. He has to complete a course as quickly as possible that is divided into ten stations – from throwing a ball to bowling and pulling rope. “Slalom is my favorite discipline,” he says with a broad grin. “And my goal is to come first.” With his ambition and skill, he has already taken home many medals at previous Special Olympics. So many that he couldn’t even count them anymore.
But the 34-year-old is not just an active athlete: When he is not busy making beer tables or doing office work in the Lebenshilfe office in Vöcklabruck, Daniel Gruber follows his sporting idols on television. “That motivates me,” he says.
Image: private
Stocksportland Upper Austria
Patrick Denk from Weng im Innkreis is also ambitious: “I’m expecting a few medals in Graz,” says the stick shooter. The Upper Austrian delegation has a good chance with 69 starters. A total of 219 participants are registered in the team sport. On Tuesday, Patrick Denk’s team completed their last training session in the Stocksporthalle Braunau. The 23-year-old from Innviertel says he hasn’t felt nervous yet. “But I think your fingers will be a little tingling before the start,” he says.
Patrick Denk and his teammates agree that the Special Olympics will be a success. “It’s celebrated this way and that,” says his coach Andreas Wimmer. “It’s about having a good time.” By this he doesn’t mean looking at the stopwatch, but rather the joy of spending time together.
This also encourages runner Lea Gschwandtner, who will do her best in Schladming not in the sand, but in the snow. “I’m also happy when I can cheer on the others. It’s fun,” says the young woman. Her coach Florian Gumpoltsberger appears calm. His prophecy: “At the start there’s a thumbs up, and then it whistles away like a pretzel.”
Image: Manfred Fesl
The Special Olympics 2024 in Styria
- 6 take long, from March 14th to 19th, the “flame of hope” burns in Styria. The 7th National Special Olympics Winter Games will take place this year in Graz, Seiersberg-Pirka, Schladming and Ramsau am Dachstein.
- 10 sports are held on four competition days: for the disciplines of alpine skiing, Nordic skiing, snowshoeing, stock sports, floorball, dance sports, figure skating, speed skating, climbing and MATP (Motor Activity Training Program). around 1100 participants Registered.
- 153 female athletes and athletes of this year’s Special Olympics come from Upper Austria. Around a third of them are part of Lebenshilfe Oberösterreich. The 52 women and men are employed in the workshops in Mattighofen (6), Grein (3), Vöcklamarkt (3), Ried (27) and Braunau (13) and are supported by 27 carers accompanied.
Verena Gabriel
