Up to Nevados de Chillán, 150 Special Olympics athletes arrived to participate in the Ñuble 2023 National Winter Games. The event had a high sporting level in ski and snowboard competitions, as well as a snowshoeing activity.
A great snowfall was the background landscape during the inauguration where the athletes symbolically lit the “Olympic Flame”. Subsequently, the competitions were held under heavy rain and ended with sunshine that accompanied the ski and snowboard finals.
In skiing, Isabel Pinto stood out with a mark of 00:19.85 and Jorge Constant with 00:18.25. While in snowboarding, Juan Guentrutripay obtained first place with 00:19.71 and Patricia Ite with 00:49.08. All athletes who participated in the National Games obtained a medal at the award ceremony.
Juan Guentrutripay, exponents of snowboarding, highlighted the experience gained in the competition and pointed out that “I feel happy for everything I achieved, I think we all gave our best effort and I also feel super good for all my teammates. We are leaving these beautiful Winter Games very motivated”.
“It was wonderful what we went through during these three days. We started with a heavy snowfall and ended with this beautiful sun, so happy. I didn’t get first place, but it doesn’t matter, since I’m keeping this unforgettable experience”, said Teresa Lira, who took second place in her snowboarding series.
For Javier Piñeiro, executive director of Special Olympics, the Winter Games show that people with intellectual disabilities can achieve their goals: “It was a spectacular sporting event. The athletes showed all the talent they have and that makes us happy. This is what our organization seeks, to provide competition of the highest quality.”
The “National Winter Games – Ñuble 2023” are the largest winter event for people with intellectual disabilities in the country, developing two disciplines in the competitive framework, and one discipline in the framework of initiation to winter sports.
This event seeks to integrate the largest number of athletes from the different regions of the country, as part of a competitive process, providing the opportunity to test the skills and competencies developed by the athlete through their training.
