2002 Cheshire Academy Athletes win International success
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Athletes and Coaches at the Austrian Special Olympic Games
Members of the Special Olympics Great Britain athletics team who are all members of the Cheshire Academy of Integrated Sport and Arts, returned from a triumphant week in Bludenz, Austria where they competed for their country at the 3rd Austrian National Special Olympic games.

The team competed against athletes from 12 different countries including some of the top learning disability athletes Europe could muster. The team returned to Crewe and Nantwich Borough with seven bronze medals and four 'personal best' records winning the respect and admiration from all the teams at the games for their sportsmanship, determination and sheer professionalism.

The team composed of Kevin Schofield (18 years old), Julie Pointon (19 years old), Jonathan Potter (19 years old), Neil Jones ( 24 years old), Celia Flegg (24 years old) and veteran Tony Harris( 53 years old).

For many months the athletes had been perfecting their throwing techniques and running speeds for the week long competition. The athletes competed at the 100 meters, 400
Veteran Tony Harris wining bronze
meters, Shot Putt, Standing Long Jump, Soft ball Throw, and Running Long Jump competitions.

The youngest members of the team Kevin Schofield created an enormous stir during the heats of the 400 meters

Placed in the inside lane he exploded of the line and took the lead after only 50 yards, his strength, stamina and dogged determination demoralising the opposition who could only look on helplessly as he powered to victory in a time of 1 min. 5.84 seconds, smashing his personal best. This time was the fifth fastest of the games, beating the national champions of 7 European countries. In the final he knocked a further 0.4 of a second to finish in third in a time of 1 min. 5.43 seconds. In collecting the bronze he received a rousing cheer from the stadium and the congratulations from his fellow competitors.

Veteran athlete Tony Harris aged 53 who has downs syndrome competed in the 100 metres, the soft ball throw and standing long jump. His soft ball throw of 9.5 metres in the preliminaries was nearly half a metre above his best recorded UK score however he was just out of the medal contention in the final. Tony however went on to win a bronze medal in the standing long jump event.

The Athletes with the Academy director Jane Whetnall (back left) in the Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council Chambers
In the preliminaries Jonathan potter astounded the British Teamby increasing his personal best by a whopping 4 metres in his final throw. The new design of soft ball used at these games really suited Jonathans throwing action however he was just unable to reproduce his form in the final but managed a fourth place certificate. Jonathan however powered home in the 100 metres with a new personal best and collected a bronze medal for his efforts.

For Celia Flegg, a slow start off the line in the 50 metres sprint placed her just out of medal contention however like Tony she pulled out allthe stops in the Standing long Jump and powered to bronze medal position in her group

Athletes and coaches with Crewe and Nantwich Mayor Michael Roberts BEM and Deputy Mayor
For Julie Pointon, this was her first taste of international competition and her preliminary shot putt throw of 4.04 metres was a full 12cm above her best UK distance. She kept the pressure up and blasted into third place in her group and also collected bronze for her efforts.

However it was Neil Jones who came top medal winner of the team when he collected two bronze medals. In conditions of high temperature and humidity in the 100 metre sprint, Neil blasted of the starting line and refused to be intimidated by the German and Turkish opposition who powered hard on his heals.His tenacity allowed him to secure a solid third place position and a well deserved bronze medal. Neil added to his medal tally later in the day when he collected a bronze in the Long Jump.

Head of Special Olympics Austria, Bertram Jager with Head of Delegation Iain Chalmers and coach Chantelle Bradshaw
The Head of Delegation for the British Special Olympics Athletics team was Cheshire Academy director Iain Chalmers. He sang the praises of the Special Olympics movement in its role at developing sport for people with learning disabilities.

"The athletes who all train at the Cheshire Academy are a wonderful credit to the Borough of Crewe and Nantwich and Britain as a whole".

He also went on to give credit to the two GB athletics coaches Colin Herd and Chantelle Bradshaw who had worked so hard to prepare the team for Austria.

"Jumping, running and swimming, Horbranz will win.."(not if the Cheshire Academy can help it..)
"Under the tutelage of coaches Colin Herd and Chantelle Bradshaw the team competed against some of the top learning disabled men and women in Europe and have returned to the borough with their head held high and a fist full of honours. Both Colin and Chantelle were extreemly professional and poured their heart and sole into training the team. Their dedication ensured that the athletes were able to give their very best to these games and their pure professionalism and positive sporting image has helped put the Borough of Crewe and Nantwich on the map in terms of Disability Sport."

The team received special compliments from the Mayor of Bludenz, Dr. Othmar Kraft and from the Director of Special Olympics in Austria, Bertram Jager. Both talked enthusiastically about the 'tremendous professionalism and sportsmanship' of the British athletes. Both felt that the British team had made a tremendous impact on these games and thanked us for our hard work.

One of the fantastic music groups at the games opening ceremony
A special decorative plate, a present from the Mayor of Crewe and Nantwich was presented to Burgermeister Othmar Kraft and he in turn presented a special comemorative book about the town of Bludenz which was later presented to the Mayor of cCewe and Nantwich Michael Roberts BEM. Both mayors were keen to further contact between the two Boroughs.