KARACHI: Pakistan received a huge honour on the eve of the Special Olympics World Games in Athens when it was selected to carry the Olympic Torch from among the 185 participating countries at the historic opening ceremony scheduled for Saturday evening.
Reliable sources from Athens said Pakistan’s talented young swimmer Farah Vohra have been chosen to carry the torch for the strong 82-member contingent which will be leading all the teams at the grand ceremony.
Farah Vohra who hails from Karachi has been swimming for the past six years and is competing in two events — the 25-metre backstroke and 25-metre freestyle — at the World Games.
Ronak Lakhani, the senior Pakistan official in the delegation, said: “We specially chose Farah to carry the torch because she has overcome her disability to become a confident, articulate young woman with the help of the Special Olympics of Pakistan (SOP) programme. Pakistan is very proud of all the mentally-challenged people on our programmes throughout the country.”
Having met with a warm welcome upon arrival in Athens last Monday, the Pakistan delegation have spent the last five days enjoying the historic city and training alongside the sea.
Pakistan will be participating in eight sports competitions, namely athletics, aquatics, badminton, basketball, bocce (a ball game for low ability athletes), cycling, football and table tennis.—Agencies
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