The Winter Olympics are wrapped up in South Korea, and now Seattle tumbles forward to our own Olympic Games.
July 1-8, 2018, Seattle plays host to the Special Olympic USA Summer Games, and Wallingford has its own Olympic hopeful.
Local gymnast and Roosevelt sophomore Virginia Wade will once again compete on the big stage. You may remember her Alpine Skiing competition in Austria in March 2017 as a member of the USA Special Olympic (SO) Women’s Alpine Ski Team.
This time around Ms. Wade qualified for the Washington State Team (also known as The Home Team) in artistic gymnastics. Wade competes in the gymnastics all-around events which include the following: vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and the floor exercise. At the USA Games, athletes will compete for a spot on the USA Team which will move on to the World Games in Abu Dhabi in 2019. The Home Team gymnastics team consists of 5 young women from Washington, including teammates from Vancouver and Bainbridge Island. Seattle is represented by Wade and two others, one who is just 8 years old.
Ms. Wade, 17, has been with Special Olympics since she was 7. She competes on the Roosevelt High School gymnastics team, is an avid reader, and spends her free time writing.
We hope you will throw your Wallingford support behind our neighborhood hero and all the tremendous athletes who are training hard for their respective athletic events. Join the expected 70,000 spectators in cheering on the 4000 athletes competing in 14 sports.
Artistic gymnastics events will be held at SPU. Other events, including the opening ceremony, will take place at the University of Washington and several other venues around the Puget Sound. More information on how to attend, volunteer, or support the athletes in the games can be found at www.specialolympicsusagames.org. Way to go, Virginia, we can’t wait to see you shine.