Burnaby, BC, February 19, 2009 - Bridget Colvin returned to her home in Burnaby, BC last weekend sporting medals from all three snowshoe events she competed in at the Special Olympics World Winter Games. Held in Boise, Idaho from February 7 to 13, the World Games brought together athletes from as many as 100 countries, pitting Bridget against the world’s best Special Olympics snowshoers. Bridget earned a gold medal for Team Canada early in the Games for her best event, the 200 metre snowshoe race, and followed up with a silver in the 400 metre and a bronze in the 4 x 400 relay.

Held every four years, the Special Olympics World Winter Games offer an opportunity for athletes to showcase their skills in a variety of winter sports. Bridget is one of 18 Canadian snowshoe athletes who progressed through regional, provincial and national competitions to win a spot on Team Canada. Special Olympics are for athletes of all ages with intellectual disabilities, and while athletes in Canada and the U.S. have been snowshoeing competitively for many years, the sport was first introduced internationally at the 1997 Special Olympics World Games in Toronto. Today over 17,000 Special Olympics athletes worldwide compete in snowshoeing.

At 23 years old, Bridget has been involved in Special Olympics for over ten years. She competes in several sports year-round, and attributes her success in Boise to sheer hard work. Leading up to the Games, Bridget trained six days most weeks and diligently recorded her daily performance in a diary. Her training regime incorporated bicycling, swimming, weight training, track work and gym circuits. During the winter months, Bridget practised weekly on Cypress Mountain in West Vancouver.

Team Canada Head Snowshoe Coach Joanne Zahaiko is quick to praise Bridget’s performance in Boise. “Bridget competed at these World Games with confidence and poise. She remained focused on race days, supported her teammates when needed, and had a great time when the racing was done for the day. Bridget deserves every one of the three medals she won as she is truly a hero.”

A week after the Games, Bridget Colvin is still savouring her moments on the podium. Despite her high level of athletic achievement, Bridget manages to keep things in perspective. One of her best memories of the World Games is the happiness she felt when her competitors joined her on the podium to raise their arms together in victory. A sense of friendship and sportsmanship is overriding at all Special Olympics events, and Bridget embraces this focus wholeheartedly.

Team Canada fnished with a total of 102 medals – 40 gold, 33 silver, and 29 bronze. This medal count is up from the 89 medals won by the national team at the Special Olympics World Winter Games held in Nagano, Japan, in 2005. These games were billed as “the largest winter sporting event,” hosting 2,500 athletes from all over the world. Figure skating, speed skating, and floor hockey competitions were held in Boise, alpine skiing at Bogus Basin Recreation Area, cross-country skiing at Sun Valley, and snowshoeing at Ponderosa State Park in McCall.

Canada was represented by a delegation of 113 team members.The medal breakdown for Canada are as follow:

	Gold		Silver		Bronze
Alpine Skiing	7		5		7
Cross-country Skiing	5		7		8
Floor Hocky Team	0		1		0
Figure Skating	10		6		1
Speed Skating	8		6		4
Snowshoeing	10		8		9
Totals	40		33		29

Please visit the SOBC Burnaby photo album for more pictures.