5,500 competing at OHP, ESPN Wide World of Sports
While the Special Olympics USA Games, taking place this week around Central Florida after a stirring opening ceremony Sunday in Orlando, are mostly being held at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports at Disney, the Games have a definite presence here in our part of Osceola County.
The Games’ equestrian events are being held at the Silver Spurs Arena. Competition will be held through Friday running to 4 p.m. It is open to the public.
Athletes and their horses will show off Western and English styles of riding as the horseback events are a part of Special Olympics USA for the first time ever.
The Silver Spurs Riding Club has donated the use of its arena facilities for the week, timed immediately after the weekend’s highly successful 149th Silver Spurs Rodeo.
Along with Team Florida’s riders — who were recognized at last weekend’s rodeo — contestants are in Osceola County to compete from places like North Carolina, South Dakota, Mississippi and Texas. They are part of an athlete contingent of about 5,500 athletes from the United States and the Caribbean, competing in 19 sports. It’s the largest USA Games in Special Olympics history.
Everything it takes to get a horse ready to ride, the athletes are doing — from preparing the saddle, to feeding, to taking the reins. Aside from riding their horses, they are building unbreakable bonds that people will never understand — except those involved with equestrian.
“Equestrian has never been offered at the USA Games, but i is a sport that is included in the World Games,” said Courtney Rotton, USA Games Director of Sports said. “Just knowing that there are many athletes participating in equestrian events we felt this was the best opportunity to introduce it to the USA Games.”
Our community was also a part of the buildup to the USA Games. On Friday, the Special Olympic Law Enforcement Torch Run — the “Guardians of the Flame” — which annually raises millions of dollars for Special Olympics, made its way through downtown Kissimmee, with a stop in front of the Old Historic Courthouse.
“The most athletes, the most sports, and we’re going to have 13 nations competing,” said 2022 USA Games CEO Joe Dzaluk. “It’s great to bring this to Kissimmee, my home town. I want to thank people like Experience Kissimmee and our community partners, who made it possible. The torch embodies the blood, sweat and dreams of working toward this event, the training, day in, day out of our athletes.”
