BASIL SYLVESTER PINTO
PANAJI
While Goa performed commendably well by snapping 23 medals for the country at the recently concluded Special Olympics World Summer Games, Abu Dhabi, a barely heard of sport as roller skating figured quite prominently in the tally as well.
While India produced their second best medal tally in a particular discipline, in roller-skating (49), next best by far to power-lifting (96), it has to be remembered that roller skating is not to be an underrated sport anymore where special athletes are setting a benchmark for their regular athletes’ countrymen.
In the Abu Dhabi Games, Goa had three of their special athletes with a podium finish in roller skating. While Harshad Deepak Gaonkar stoked a gold in the 300m and 500m races (male category), Sairaj Sanjeev Barad claimed a silver in the 1000m race (male), while Avila Anant Kane had to settle for a bronze in the 100m race (female).
Gareth Vaz, a national coach for Special Olympics Bharat - Goa, came in for high praise for his three wards. Speaking on the competitiveness of the Goan roller skaters, Vaz states, “We have been training them in schools and also at Don Bosco, Panaji, with me at camps. Especially in the last 8-9 months, they have undergone a lot of rigorous camps in the State and outside as well.”
Coming to the competition level at the world event, he says the athletes are bracketed ability-wise. “We call it divisioning. All the kids of one ability are placed in one group. Suppose an athlete finishes 100 metres in a minute, all closer to him are put in that group,” Vaz explained. But it has to be mentioned in golden letters that Harshad Deepak Gaonkar comes from a different kettle of fish. “He (Gaonkar) was placed in a higher division, in lieu of a lower one. Yet he really battled it out in the very competitive division he was in. It was not easy for him to win the gold,” the roller skating coach maintained.
Incidentally, Gaonkar has been under the tutelage of Vaz for the last two years. “Since, I am from Panaji, and he is from Bicholim, his training with me has been on and off. He practises at his school, and only for regular camps comes to me,” the special athlete coach since 2011 disclosed.
But Vaz was chaffed up with the results the Goan roller skaters showcased at the recent Special Olympics. “They have exceeded our expectations. We do have expectations, but in roller skating you never know what happens. They have been training for a long time. Whatever outcome was to be, it would come and it is a sport at the end of the day,” the former national level roller skater stated.
The coach was unwilling to compare the Goan/Indian athletes to those from other countries in terms of exposure or experience. “I wouldn’t be able to tell about them. But we have trained our athletes very well and for a long time. And their best was good enough for me,” Vaz said.
Vaz also revealed that most parents of special athletes are now open and understanding. “They (parents) are aware that their children are getting opportunities to excel in different fields and are doing well. A lot of credit goes to Special Olympics Goa for that,” he concluded.
