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www.badmintonscotland.org.uk September 2011 SPECIAL OLYMPICS - ATHENS 2011
GREAT, BRITAIN (left to right): Back row: David Gillespie, James Pert, Darren Roberts. Front row: Briony Johnson, Hazel Johnson, Grant Hunter and coach Rachel Burke.
AFTER the journey to Skiathos, with flights in two groups from London to Athens, then several hours by coach and ferry, the GB Team had five days to relax, acclimatise to the 30- degree heat and take in some cultural exchanges with their Host Town population. The Skiathos Princess Hotel was the perfect
location to achieve that but the journey back to Athens, which took more than 13 hours the day before the Games opening ceremony, almost undid any benefit the beautiful Greek island had provided. On Saturday June 25, the day of the opening
ceremony in Athens, athletes fell ill at an alarming rate just an hour or two before the team was to parade into the arena. Badminton athlete Briony Johnson from
Oswestry was among those who were taken ill and was taken to hospital as a precaution. It was three days later before she was fit to
rejoin the team. Briony and five other GB athletes were looked after by badminton coach Rachel Burke during their stay in hospital and their reunion with the team onMonday evening was emotional and better than any subsequent medals win. Briony missed her first-round singles match
and had to settle, if that’s the correct word, for a bronze medal in that event. More amazingly by the end of that week
Medals for everyone
DAVID GILLESPIE, SOGB Head Coach Badminton, reports on a successful campaign at the Special Olympics in Athens
take gold in the doubles, beating Philippine’s girls 16-21 21-18 21-17. Briony also took fourth place in her mixed
doubles with partner Darren Roberts, also from Oswestry. Darren had medal success with a bronze in
his singles division, narrowly losing out on silver with a loss to Jamaica 20-22 21-15 21-16. Team-mate James Pert from Glasgow also
Briony, with partner Hazel Johnson fromWigan, she played her best badminton of the Games to
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won bronze in his singles division in a very close match against Bangladesh, winning 17-21 21-15 21-18 and also won bronze with partner Grant
Thememories of Games are muchmore than just medals wins
Hunter from Glasgow in men’s doubles. Grant, in his men’s singles division, won silver
and later added a second silver with mixed doubles partner Hazel 21-18 24-22 against a pair from Hungary. Hazel rounded off her medals tally of a silver
and two gold medals with a second gold with a win over Hong Kong 21-12, 21-19 without dropping a game in her singles division. The overall medal tally for the Great Britain
Team was an amazing 72 gold, 63 silver and 52 bronze medals. The badminton team’s tally of three gold,
three silver and five bronze was fantastic and meant every member had at least one medal to take home but the memories of the Games are much more than just medals wins. The friendships established between athletes,
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coaches and volunteers, not just from within their own team but with those from other nations, will last to the nextWorld Games and beyond. Well done everyone who played a part in the
biggest sporting event in the world this year - 21 sports, 30 venues, 7,000 athletes, 2,500 coaches, 3,000 technical officials/referees, 25,000 volunteers, 40,000 family members and 3,000 media representatives - The Special OlympicsWorld Summer Games Athens 2011.
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