A trio of Twin City athletes brought home plenty of hardware from their trip to this year’s Special Olympics.
The Illinois delegation earned a total of 54 medals at the games in Minnesota, including five won by athletes hailing from Bloomington-Normal. The state ranked sixth overall in the medal count, with 57 Illinois athletes competing in eight sports.
The annual games, which took place from June 20-26, includes individual and team sports involving athletes with intellectual disabilities, plus unified basketball and volleyball, which includes athletes without a disability. Athletes representing Illinois set more than 20 individual records in this year’s games.
In athletics, Kelsey Ferguson of Normal won gold in the 1500-meter race. Ferguson also earned bronze in the 4x400-meter relay and mini-javelin.
Travis Brady of Bloomington and Tommie Knudsen of Normal earned silver and gold, respectively, in unified volleyball and team bocce. Knudsen placed fourth in male doubles and fifth in the individual event.
In unified volleyball, Team Illinois advanced to gold medal game against Ohio after defeating North Dakota in a 2-1 match. Ohio won gold in both divisions, including a 2-0 victory against Illinois.
Special Olympics Illinois is headquartered in Normal. The Twin Cities hosts the state-level games taking place each summer.
