The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Admiring a special Olympian who will carry the torch for India

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Admiring a special Olympian who will carry the torch for India

M. Dinesh Varma

Kum Kowsalya will represent India at Special Olympics

Photo: R.Shivaji Rao

Curious: Students crowd around Kum Kowsalya of Tiruchi, who will represent India at the Special Olympics World Winter Games next month, at a function organised at Montford School in Chennai on Wednesday. —

CHENNAI: Girls at Montford School turned ballerinas on Wednesday for a show dedicated to someone special in the front row.

They cheered lustily when mementoes were handed out to the chief guest.

Autographs

And, the fade-out of the national anthem at the end of the proceedings set off a mad scramble for autographs from the one who had been the cynosure of all eyes for quite awhile during the event.

This was no film star or cricket icon hogging the limelight.

The children at this higher secondary school were exhibiting genuine admiration for a mentally challenged girl who will represent India at the Special Olympics World Winter Games at Idaho, U.S., next month.

Kum Kowsalya, under the fold of Asha Deepam centre for special children in Tiruchi, is Tamil Nadu’s sole entrant for the international event (February 7-13) inspired by former U.S. President John F. Kennedy.

The Special Olympics is exclusively for the mentally challenged much as the Para Olympics is for the physically challenged.

Kowsalya got selected for the girls’ floor hockey team after a series of gruelling trials at Shimla, Mumbai and Hyderabad.

She backs her team to do well, perhaps even strike gold at the competition.

The official site of the World Winter Games gives an indication of how tough the floor hockey competitions could be.

About 1,175 athletes from 82 teams representing 70 Special Olympics programs from around the world are expected to compete in the event.

“Tamil Nadu has a tradition of excellence at the Winter Games,” said A.D.S.N. Prasad, Area Coordinator, Special Olympics, Bharat-Tamil Nadu and founder-director of Chennai-based NGO Pathway.

During the previous edition of the Special Olympics, the State contributed heavily to the overall tally of 148 medals, which included 36 gold medals.

This year, the Special Olympics committee which oversees the talent spotting, training and funding of mentally challenged students, is sending a 68-member contingent to Idaho.

Some of the competitive events are Alpine skiing, snow shoeing and snow boarding.

Kowsalya will soon be off to Shimla along with Julia Vasanthi, manager (programs), Special Olympics, for a 10-day preparatory-cum-acclimitisation camp before heading for the minus-13 degree climes of Idaho.

Rehearsal

The students and faculty at Montford would like to believe that the felicitation they organised for Kowsalya was a mere dress rehearsal for a grander reception when she returns with gold.

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