Special Olympics National Winter Games 2023: Waikato snowboarders off to Wānaka

Special Olympics snowboarder Jarrod Gilbert, of Te Awamutu, works as a caretaker for the Cambridge Velodrome.

Waikato snowboarders Kaa Dekker and Jarrod Gilbert are off to Wānaka next week to take on New Zealand’s top alpine athletes at the Special Olympics National Winter Games.

The competition, first held in 1992, is a four-yearly event for athletes with an intellectual disability competing in skiing and snowboarding.

Around 50 athletes from 18 clubs will compete across five disciplines: advanced and intermediate slalom, giant slalom, snowboard cross and snowboard giant slalom.

Jarrod Gilbert, of Te Awamutu, and Kaa Dekker, of Hamilton, will compete in both snowboarding events to not only fight for national honours, but also to put themselves in contention to be selected for the World Winter Games in Turin, Italy, in 2025.

Gilbert has already won gold and bronze medals in snowboarding at the World Winter Games in Austria six years ago and was one of five Special Olympics athlete leaders at the National Special Olympics Summer Games 2022 where he competed as a swimmer.

Special Olympics chief executive Fran Scholey says the World Winter Games in Italy will be the first global event since 2017 after the 2021 games in Kazan first had to be postponed due to the pandemic and then moved to Italy after Russia invaded Ukraine.

“Athletes competing in the National Winter Games do not get many opportunities to compete - aside from annual training camps - so [they] have been eagerly waiting to test themselves against their rivals,” Scholey says.

“We have a whole variety of skills, with some just starting their skiing careers, while others have already been to multiple World Winter Games. Our experienced athletes have been a source of inspiration for our new athletes, so the opportunity for lifelong friendships to be formed ... is what’s most important.”

For the competition, the athletes will first do test runs to be divided into different divisions, so every athlete has a competitive shot at a medal.

Scholey says apart from catching up with fellow athletes, the disco on the final day is the real highlight of the games for many athletes.

“You would think they would be exhausted from the days competing, but celebrating each other’s success at the closing disco brings a whole new energy to the event.”

The Special Olympics National Winter Games 2023 are taking place from August 15 to 18.