Malawi maintains sparkle at Special Olympics Games
Special Olympics Malawi (SOM) squad continued to shine at the ongoing World Summer Games in Los Angeles, USA on Thursday when they won six more medals on top of the gold medal that Mussa Luhanga earned in 200-metre run on Wednesday.
The latest episode saw the Malawi team winning three gold medals and the same number of silver accolades.
Desire Namaona won gold in the 50 meters race while Henry Katopola plucked silver in the same event. Clara Phiri and Agnes Lekaleka earned gold in 100-metre races. Namaona and Katopola also grabbed silver medals in standing long jump.
Mandela Kalua finished fourth in the 50 metres race, but was disqualified in standing long jump for unspecified reasons.
As we went to press, the competition was in the final day when five local athletes were expected to participate in running races. One of them was scheduled to compete in both standing long jump and running race.
“It has been a wonderful competition for us so far. It is no joke to win seven accolades, including four gold medals, at such a big competition. We are even looking forward to an exciting finish,” said SOM national coordinator Felix Chisowa.
This means the Malawi team has surpassed its achievement during the 2011 Games in Greece, where they won three gold medals, the same number of silver decoration and a bronze.n
