Clare athletes amongst 126 Olympians

ON Sunday, Special Olympics Ireland officially announced details of Team Ireland who will compete at the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Athens.
One hundred and twenty six athletes, along with 49 coaches will represent Ireland at the Games, which are the highest level of sporting competition for Special Olympics athletes in the world. Athletes Michael Neville, from Sixmilebridge, and Ciara O’Loughlin, from Inagh, will fly the flag for Clare at the Games which will take place from June 25 to July 4 in Athens, Greece.
Team Ireland will join 7,500 Special Olympics athletes from 185 nations for the Games which promise to be one of the sporting highlights of this year. Team Ireland will compete in 12 sports: aquatics, athletics, badminton, basketball, bocce, bowling, equestrian, football, golf, gymnastics, kayaking and table tennis.
The Irish team will also be supported by 220 volunteers from Ireland who will volunteer at the Games as well as hundreds of family members and supporters.
To mark Ireland’s participation, eircom has created an online campaign to allow people to leave personal messages of support for the Team Ireland athletes. The special application is housed on the Special Olympics Ireland’s facebook page and will be promoted through an online advertising campaign. When each message of support is submitted, the sender will receive a personalised video message from a Team Ireland athlete. This message can be shared with friends, so that they too can send a message of support.
You can leave your message of support at www.facebook.com/specialolympicsireland