Pahiatua athlete Jamie Davidson aiming for gold at Berlin Games

Jamie Davidson competing at a Special Olympics event.

Pahiatua athlete Jamie Davidson has been selected to compete at the Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023 in June.

He told the Bush Telegraph he is excited about going; he will be in the New Zealand team running 100-metre and 200-metre events as well as competing in the javelin, which is a new sport for him. He usually does shotput, but there wasn't a place for that for him.

"I practise around Pahiatua and in Palmerston North, as part of Special Olympics Manawatū," he said. "I've just attended my first New Zealand training camp, which was held in Wellington, with the team that goes to Berlin - where I will be going for gold. I'm quite excited about learning the haka."

Jamie Davidson about to race at the NZ secondary schools event in Wellington, December 2019.

To go, Jamie has to raise funds to cover his fares and training costs. He is 24 years old and one of five athletes from Manawatū going. He is the only one from Tararua.

This is a huge achievement for him to be selected along with a squad of 40 athletes travelling with 19 coaches. There will be 7,000 athletes at the Games in Berlin, with swimming, horse riding, basketball, football, golf, hockey and canoeing categories in addition to the athletics (24 sports in total).

Jamie has Down's Syndrome and used to run in AWD (Athletes with Disabilities) secondary school events when he was at Tararua College. He travelled to events in Auckland, Timaru and Dunedin - where he won a gold medal.

He won a silver medal at the last Summer Games, which are held every four years, in Wellington. The next national Summer Games for Special Olympics New Zealand will be in Hamilton in December.

Jamie is very sporty. He plays football, rugby, social hockey and golf; he swims, and is very passionate about the All Blacks. He is also competitive, having won the Frances Clarke Memorial Award from Governor General Anand Satyanand at Government House for excellence in hockey when he was nine years old - he made the front page of a national newspaper.