September 13, 2007	Thursday	Sha'aban 30, 1428

KARACHI, Sept 12: A 98-member squad including 66 athletes looks set to embark to Shanghai, China, on Sept 26 with a hope to fetch nearly one hundred medals at the 12th Special Olympics World Summer Games being held from Oct 2 to 12.

In this edition of the Games, the athletes will feature in nine disciplines – aquatics, athletics, badminton, basketball, bocce, cycling, football, table tennis and tennis.

In the last Games held four years back at Dublin, Ireland, the Pakistani special athletes amassed a total of 89 medals including 43 gold, 32 silver and 14 bronze.

The mentally retarded athletes have bettered their performance since making their debut at the eighth Special Olympics at Minneapolis, USA, in 1991. Then, they secured seven gold, four silver and five bronze by featuring in three out of five disciplines namely athletics, soccer and table tennis.

This performance was a result of two years of efforts of the Special Olympics Pakistan (SOP) which was born in 1989.

In the next quadrennial Games held at New Haven in the US, their medals tally rose to 11 gold, six silver and four bronze where they added two new disciplines basketball and swimming.

Competing with a renewed vigour for a third time in such Games, the athletes improved in leaps and bounds when they returned with a shining performance and a haul of 61 medals in eight disciplines at North Carolina. The Games also marked the 30th anniversary of the Special Olympics movement launched by Eunice Kennedy Shriver in 1968.

Beaming with confidence, the Shanghai-bound athletes were entertained at a befitting reception held in their honour by Karachi Gymkhana at their premises to bid them farewell on Wednesday.

US Consul General Mrs Kay Anske and Consul General of the Peoples Republic of China Chen Shan Min were prominent among others who attended the reception.

Paying rich tributes to the special athletes, Corps Commander Corp V, Lt Gen Ahsan Azhar Hayat hoped that they would again return with flying colours.

He asked the other national athletes to emulate the performance of the special ones. “They [special athletes] have achieved wonders where normal athletes have failed,” he remarked.

Founding member and chairman SOP, Saeed Ahmed, outlined salient features of the institution which has around 15,000 registered athletes across the country.

“The trip which was preceded by five camps and the equipment, uniforms, logistics, etc., have cost the SOP over Rs10 million which were raised courtesy the well wishers,” he said.

The national carrier which used to support the noble cause in the past by providing air tickets for the contingent, has distanced itself from the project this time.

Secretary SOP Ronak Lakhani, president Karachi Gymkhana Taqi Iqbal, special athlete Sobia Aslam, global messenger of Special Olympics Adil Visram also spoke on the occasion.