ORANGE : Special Olympics Skaters Go for Gold

Between the Olympic winter games at Albertville and the summer games in Barcelona came the roller-games for more than 200 Special Olympics athletes who convened Wednesday at the Holiday Skating Center.

Many of the athletes, ages 8 to about 38, who gathered from throughout the county to compete in the roller-skating heats were there for the fun. But some were going for the gold.

“All of them. I’m going to beat them. Absolutely,” said 16-year-old Omrou Aldalati, a student at Esperanza School in Mission Viejo, a special education center for the severely mentally handicapped.

“I skate all my life. I skate since I was a little girl,” said Cathy White, an exuberant 19-year-old from the Mitchell School in Santa Ana, another center for the mentally handicapped. “I practice on my own time and at school. That’s what my coach told me.”

“This is like the biggest of big events for these guys,” said Greg Sommer, Cathy’s assistant coach. “It’s like a mini-Christmas.”

Roller-skating is one of 22 sports that 2,000 Orange County Special Olympians compete in each year. Winners of the local games have the chance to compete at the state level in Los Angeles in June.

Not all of the special athletes may understand the concept of competition, said Becky Heinzen, a teacher and coach at Esperanza. For them, roller-skating becomes a chance to work on coordination or to socialize. The training and competitive events give them a shot of self-confidence, and even losing provides valuable lessons, she said.

“Sometimes society has the tendency to baby (the handicapped), but that doesn’t teach them what life is all about,” she said. “We talk to them about coming away (from the skating competition) with a smile on their face and no tears.”

After a somber, fireless torch-carrying ceremony and the playing of the national anthem, the skaters stood ready to compete in 30-, 100- and 200-meter races around the rink.

With speed and style, some cruised easily to the finish line, others practically tumbled, and a few were led by their coaches down the track.

Cathy White was up against two other girls in a 200-meter heat. The whistle blew, and she confidently strode down the straightaway, but slowed in the curves and came in second to a competitor from Esperanza.

For coach Sommer, Cathy’s finish was a triumph. “We don’t emphasize ‘kill at all costs’ (in training),” he said. “We emphasize ‘play good and play hard.’ If they come in last, they get the same hug as if they come in first.”

Still, Cathy would rather have come in first.

“I can’t believe it! I can’t stand it!” she shouted, catching her breath at the side of the rink. “My folks wanted me to win first.”

But coming in second didn’t seem to dampen her enthusiasm for her favorite sport.

“I can’t wait to get on my roller-blades tonight,” she said. “I love to skate.”