Pakistan wraps up Special Olympics with 10 gold medals
Cyclist Muhammad Safeer Abid made Pakistan proud as he won the 10km time-trial event at the Special Olympics World Games in Berlin.
Safeer’s feat helped Pakistan improve the medal tally to 10 golds in the competition. The cyclists won the most gold medals with four; the powerlifters bagged three, while two came in track and field and one in badminton.
Safeer covered the distance of 10km in 23 minutes and 2.02 seconds as he outpaced Great Britain’s Tom Hsu, who came second with 23 minutes and 2.15 seconds, and another Briton Ben Fea Lankshear finished third with 23 minutes and 23.43 seconds. Safeer was competing in the M04 division.
“This has been an exceptional performance by Pakistani athletes,” Special Olympics Pakistan (SOP) media manager Asif Azeem told The Express Tribune from Berlin, right before the contingent was scheduled to participate in the closing ceremony of the Games.
“The athletes have enjoyed themselves on and off the field.
“SOP chairperson Ronak Lakhani’s decision to bring the contingent days before the Games started proved to be a crucial factor in their impressive performances. The athletes got enough time to acclimatize and train at the facilities here.”
The Pakistani female cyclists Madiha Tahir and Amina Arshad also delivered strong performances in their 500m individual time-trial event. Madiha earned the silver medal as she clocked one minute and 14.15 seconds to cover the distance. She lost first place to Belgium's Anne-Sophie van Zandweghe who won the gold medal with the difference of .55 seconds. Amina was right behind her as she took bronze with one minute and 16.82 seconds.
Pakistan also picked a silver medal in the M03 division of the men’s unified team futsal event. They qualified for the final after an impressive game against Germany. They defeated them 2-1 thanks to the goals from Shahabuddin and unified partner Muhammad Ali Baloch.
In the final, too, against Oman, Baloch scored twice and Muhammad Aqeel contributed with one goal.
Pakistan’s bocce players also bagged silver medals in the team event. Simran Mahesh Lal Devnani, Mahenoor Tahir, Farham Aslam, and Jamilur Rehman played together and defeated Canada, Australia, and New Zealand in the M02 division before playing the final against Bangladesh. Bangladesh clinched the gold after a close 9-8 victory.
Farhan also took a bronze medal in the singles bocce event. He won two out of his three M01 division matches.
“Most of the athletes debuted at the Games and most of them even travelled outside the country on a plane for the first time. Their reactions were very wholesome," said Azeem. “Like one athlete kept predicting when the electricity would go off when he saw the rain outside. He asked me when there will be a power outage and then he was just fascinated by how the power outage never happened in Berlin.
“The athletes also went sightseeing, shopping, and they have been treated very well by the Pakistani community here. It has been the most amazing experience here.”
The performances were hugely possible because of the coaches and unified partners with the 87 athletes that the SOP sent to compete in 11 different sports disciplines.
“The coaches have worked hard with the athletes, they all trained even during the Ramadan. These games meant everything to the athletes and the coaches who taught the rules and the sports to every athlete in the camps across the cities in Pakistan. This has been a big achievement for the coaches and the unified partners as well,” said Azeem.