Special Olympics
Local Athletes Headed to World Games
By Tricia Lafferty

It started off as a weekly Thursday-night event for Chris Jagielski 12 years ago.

He'd go to the Allegheny County chapter of Special Olympics to socialize and play sports recreationally. Nine years ago Chris found his niche when he started to golf. And in late September, the 21-year old Baldwin resident will travel to Shanghai, China to represent the United States at the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games from Oct. 2-11.

"I was so happy that I was literally crying because I was so excited I finally got to be picked to be on team USA," Chris said.

"It's really nice. It's fun to go see another foreign country for the first time ever and when I'm over there I can wear red, white, and blue proudly representing our country."

Chris will be joined by more than 500 Special Olympics Team USA athletes, including bowler Izzy Silk, of Squirrel Hill. Izzy, 30, has been bowling for four years and has won gold medals locally and at the state level for the past three years.

"I don't think Izzy really had a sense of what the World Games were and then all of a sudden when they chose her, it's just a once in a lifetime opportunity," said Leonard Silk, Izzy's father. "I think this is a wonderful opportunity to be with athletes from all over the world in a (country) where they are going to hold the Olympics next year."

The event will mark just the second time the games will be held outside the United States. Approximately 7,500 athletes, 40,000 volunteers, 3,500 event officials and thousands of families, volunteers and spectators from every continent will attend the event. Special Olympics athletes of all ability levels will compete in 25 different Olympic-type sports.

Eligible athletes must be at least 8 years old and must be identified by an agency or professional as having an intellectual disability; a cognitive delay or a development disability.

Chris was born with Apraxia, which is a neurological disorder characterized by loss of the ability to execute or carry out learned purposeful movements, despite having the desire and the physical ability to perform the movements. Growing up with this mild form of retardation wasn't always easy for Chris.

Chris's mother, Terri, said that he often wasn't accepted and had a hard time fitting in throughout middle school. That's when his parents suggested he join Special Olympics and that's when Chris changed from a "quiet introspective child into a very outgoing forthright person," his mother said.

Special Olympics was where Chris, a Baldwin High School and Steel Center Vo-Tech graduate, and Izzy, who graduated from high school in Massachusetts and is a cashier at Rite Aid, first fit in. It is their comfort zone where they interact with individuals just like themselves. They enjoy their teammates and competition. They've grown, changed and have been molded through Special Olympics.

"You would think he's the mayor of Special Olympics," Terri said. "He's very social. He talks a lot and is very comfortable because he is accepted for who he is. In the real world, kids aren't accepted for who they are. It's amazing the respect these kids have for each other. You just get a good feeling watching them (play sports)."

Terri still gets choked up when she talks about watching Chris compete in China. When Chris found out he would be going to the World Games, he was so excited that he cried. He had been an alternate for the World Games twice before and wanted so badly to make the cut.

Chris and Izzy won gold medals at local competitions and then another at Penn State, where the state games were held. Those first-place finishes qualified Izzy and Chris to enter a drawing along with other finalists from Pennsylvania. With a lot of skill and a little bit of luck, the Pittsburgh duo was granted an all-expenses-paid trip to China.

"It's been a year in June that we found out that he was on Team USA and he hasn't come off his cloud yet," said Terri, who along with her husband, Ken, will accompany Chris on his trip to China. "The closer it gets, it seems unreal."

With an average 51 on nine holes and after recently recording a score of 105 on 18 holes, Chris, who was 13 years old when he first started golfing, is aiming for the gold at the World Games. He can drive the ball 280 yards and has a solid putting game and a laid-back mentality, according to Bob Jenkner, Chris's local golf coach.

"He likes playing against competition," said Jenkner, a Norwin graduate and former Slippery Rock golfer. "If he's playing against someone, he's always having fun. He's lucky that way because most people take the game too serious. I think he can do pretty well. He seems to rise to the challenge a lot."

Izzy said her focus is to enjoy China, meet new people and bring her best effort to the World Games. Izzy, who is coached by Neal Tepper of Scott Township, averages a 130 and once bowled a career-best 211.

"It's an honor," she said. "I've never thought of doing it until my bowling coach asked me. Now I get to meet some of the people and I'm excited to compete."

Special Olympics is no longer just a once-a-week get-together for Chris or Izzy. It's become a vital part of their lives and provided opportunities that helped them learn and grow.

Now they're going to China to show the rest of the world how far they've come, not only in sports, but in life.

Follow Chris, Izzy and Team USA at World Games at www.specialolympicspa.org