With "Believe in Yourself" as the theme, everyone came out a winner at the 31st annual West Virginia Special Olympics Summer Games June 11-13, hosted for the second consecutive year by WVU.
Community volunteers—some 1,300 strong—helped support the 800 special athletes and coaches from 26 counties.
With temperatures in the 90s, it was a hot weekend, filled with thrilling victories on and off the field. "Whether they finished first or last, it didn't matter," said Kelly Ray Martin, a WVU student volunteer. "The important thing was that they competed and had fun. If they won a medal, that was just the icing on the cake."
West Virginia law enforcement officers carried the torch about 400 miles and raised more than $45,000 for Special Olympics in 1999. Numerous sponsors, including the Morgantown Dominion Post and Toyota, supported the effort.
WVU will host the games for a third year in June 2000.
—Becky Lofstead
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