Last January, we announced that Inspire Employee at Stewart’s Melville College, Caitlin Dodds, qualified for the Special Olympics World Games 2019 in Abu Dhabi. We are now thrilled to report that Caitlin has won the Bronze Medal – representing the whole of the UK in golf!!
This isn’t the first time we have seen Caitlin swing into success though. We saw Caitlin successfully win the Silver Medal in the Special Olympics 40th Anniversary Games just last summer and she has been training extremely hard since, in the lead up to the big International competition!
Managing Directors for Scotland David Pease and Lorna McFarlane said: “This is an absolutely incredible achievement for Caitlin, and we are extremely proud and very happy for her to have won the Bronze Medal representing the UK at this prestigious level!”
Caitlin played in the 9-hole competition – four days practise and four days competition, over The Yas Links course. This course is rated as the 44th best course in the world, so as you can imagine, this was no easy task! Also, with winds on two of the competition days running at 40 / 50mph, things got really tough for the players.
Jamie McDonald, Head Golf Coach said: “This Medal is just reward and testament to the hard work Caitlin has put in over the last 7 years. Being selected for The World Games is the pinnacle of a Special Olympics athlete’s career – coming home with a Medal is way up on cloud nine. I feel very privileged to have been on Caitlin’s journey from the beginning – and being there in Abu Dhabi to see her achieve her dream!”
*Caitlin returning to work with her Bronze Medal*
About the Special Olympics
The Special Olympics World Games 2019 were hosted in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates this month for the first time in the Middle East North Africa since the movement’s founding over 50 years ago. The Crown Prince Court led the winning bid efforts with a mission to promote positive social change for people with intellectual disabilities and create a more inclusive society.
Special Olympics is the world’s largest humanitarian sporting event and a global movement which focuses on the empowerment of People of Determination with intellectual disabilities through the power of sport.
The event is under the Patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, whose leadership and vision have been instrumental in bringing together public and private sector partners to be a part of this worthy cause. Over 7,000 athletes from over 170 countries came to compete in a series of sports, as well as a variety of initiatives and activities held across the seven Emirates.
See Caitlin’s profile here:
https://www.abudhabi2019.org/athlete/caitlin-dodds-701814
Well done Caitlin from all your friends at Inspire!