Special Olympians Gather for Games

At age 37, Special Olympian Carl Kiker is at the top of his basketball game, sinking shots near and far with an exuberant howl and his trademark finger twist.

But the bear-sized Long Beach resident knows plenty of others whose games are hot--particularly a new crop of younger, female Special Olympians. With year-round training and coaches who are specially educated to work with the mentally retarded, competition is getting stiffer all the time.

“Whoo!” Kiker said as he recalled a recent boys-vs.-girls basketball bout. “They were rough! They were girls!”

This weekend, Kiker, those girls and about 1,400 other athletes will meet at Cal State Long Beach for the 30th annual Southern California Special Olympics Summer Games. The games feature competition in basketball, aquatics, boccie, golf, gymnastics and track and field and many other sports.

The event is always eagerly awaited by Special Olympics athletes.

“I like the games a lot,” said Kiker’s teammate, Larry Pollack, 42. “I really like walking into that stadium at the opening ceremonies. It makes me feel really good.”

The goal of the games is to foster self-reliance in the athletes, some of whom have been abandoned or neglected as a result of their condition. With renewed confidence, organizers say, the athletes can go on to lead enriching lives.

“The point is that these are not just people you can put in a closet,” said Dick Van Kirk, president and chief executive officer of this region’s Special Olympics. “The games are a real factor in building their confidence, self-esteem and social awareness. Many graduate from Special Olympics to get a job and get married. After that, they don’t need Special Olympics anymore.”

The opening ceremonies will be tonight at the Pyramid, the university’s landmark sports arena. They will include the end of the torch run, in which a relay of U.S. and Mexican law enforcement runners carry a torch on a circuitous, 11-day route from Tijuana to Long Beach to join a second torch that runners have carried from San Luis Obispo.

The games have grown more competitive, and performances have steadily improved, organizers say. Rafer Johnson, the 1960 Olympic Games decathlon champion and a Special Olympics sponsor, said this is the result of the year-round training and special coaching.

Johnson said Special Olympians are no different from Olympic Games competitors “in their willingness to sacrifice or to train.”

But he said that “you see some unusual things, unusually inspiring. Sometimes athletes who are running will grasp the hand of their closest rival and they’ll run hand in hand to the finish line. Or they’ll stop what they’re doing and return to pick up a fallen runner. You won’t see that anywhere else.”

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Schedule of Events

The 30th Annual Southern California Special Olympics Summer Games will take place today through Sunday at Cal State Long Beach. Admission and parking are free.

TODAY

7 to 8:30 p.m. Opening ceremonies at the Pyramid sports arena. Welcoming address, parade of athletes, laser show.

SATURDAY

8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sports competitions, including basketball, boccie, golf, gymnastics, tennis, and track and field. Competitions will be held throughout the campus. Golf will be played at Bixby Village Golf Course, 6180 Bixby Village Drive.

10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Special Olympics Fair at Sports Expo Park. Live entertainment, dancing, sports clinics, games.

SUNDAY

8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sports competitions throughout the campus.

11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Special Olympics Fair, Sports Expo Park.

2 p.m. Closing ceremonies, Sports Expo Park. Final awards presentation, music, relighting of torch and release of doves.