200 arrive for Special Olympics in Himachal
By IANSTuesday, February 15, 2011
SHIMLA - They are intellectually disabled, but that hasn’t stopped over 200 people from eight states from arriving at the snow-laden ski slopes of Narkanda in Himachal Pradesh to conquer new heights.
They’ll take part in Special Olympics during the four-day National Winter Games beginning Wednesday.
“Intellectually disabled people in the age group of 16 to 35 from eight states, including host state Himachal, will participate in the Special Olympics,” Mallika Nadda, chairperson of the Special Olympics Association, Himachal chapter, told IANS here.
She said the Narkanda ski slopes, some 65 km from here, in upper Shimla, have more than one foot of snow and events like snow shoeing, snow boarding and alpine skiing would be organised. The slopes have been witnessing intermittent snow since Sunday.
Nadda said it would also serve as a national training-cum-selection camp.
“The players selected in the camp would participate in the Special Olympics World Winter Games to be held in South Korea in 2013,” she added.
This is the second phase of the games. In December last year, the Himachal chapter organised floor hockey for the intellectually disabled as part of summer games in Shimla’s boarding school, Bishop Cotton School.
