Corfu athlete wins Gold in Abu Dhabi!
Special Olympics
19 Μαρτίου 2019
/ 08:45
ABU DHABI. Angeliki Alamanou won a Gold Medal at the Special Olympics World Summer Games and Maria Merianou also performed well.
Angeliki Alamanou won a Gold Medal in the individual bowling - a great moment for the Special Olympics Hellas team!
The Corfu athlete won Sunday morning's competition with 404 points ahead of Mary Adele Marks from Australia with 341 points and Mitchell Portado Daoua from the Philippines with 315 points.
It was the first Greek medal at the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Abu Dhabi (14-21 March). Over 7,000 athletes from 124 countries are taking part in 24 events at the Games.
There are 91 athletes in the Greek team taking part in 14 events - two of whom are the Corfu athletes Angeliki Alamanou and Maria Merianou, who also took part in the bowling competition. This was Maria Merianou's first major competition and she came 7th in her category. The two athletes came 4th in the team events on Saturday and Monday.
They share the same coach Vangelis Mantzos.
Yiannis Samoulidis from the Corfu bowling team, who helped the girls with their preparations, was emotional when he told Enimerosi "I'm extremely happy and moved. This isn't just a medal - it's a world medal. The girls made an incredible effort whilst facing a lot of difficulties. Angeliki, for example, has had a problem with her arm for about a year. Despite that, however, she won gold with a performance that she hadn't even achieved in training!
"I expected it - or rather, I had great hopes. The level of competition was high and we didn't know what to expect in a foreign country for so many days away from her family and with so many other competitors from other countries. The fact that not only did she come here but won gold was the greatest fulfilment of our ambitions."
The two Corfu athletes are expected back on Friday (22/3) evening.
See more photos here.
The Corfu athlete won Sunday morning's competition with 404 points ahead of Mary Adele Marks from Australia with 341 points and Mitchell Portado Daoua from the Philippines with 315 points.
It was the first Greek medal at the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Abu Dhabi (14-21 March). Over 7,000 athletes from 124 countries are taking part in 24 events at the Games.
There are 91 athletes in the Greek team taking part in 14 events - two of whom are the Corfu athletes Angeliki Alamanou and Maria Merianou, who also took part in the bowling competition. This was Maria Merianou's first major competition and she came 7th in her category. The two athletes came 4th in the team events on Saturday and Monday.
They share the same coach Vangelis Mantzos.
Yiannis Samoulidis from the Corfu bowling team, who helped the girls with their preparations, was emotional when he told Enimerosi "I'm extremely happy and moved. This isn't just a medal - it's a world medal. The girls made an incredible effort whilst facing a lot of difficulties. Angeliki, for example, has had a problem with her arm for about a year. Despite that, however, she won gold with a performance that she hadn't even achieved in training!
"I expected it - or rather, I had great hopes. The level of competition was high and we didn't know what to expect in a foreign country for so many days away from her family and with so many other competitors from other countries. The fact that not only did she come here but won gold was the greatest fulfilment of our ambitions."
The two Corfu athletes are expected back on Friday (22/3) evening.
See more photos here.
