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***image1***Michaela L. Lacy was already grinning ear-to-ear before she broke the white tape at the 50-meter unassisted wheelchair race.
“I’ve never won first place before,” said Michaela, a Heidelberg Middle School eighth-grader. “Once I got a third place in swimming, but first place, that’s awesome!”
Michaela was one of more than 800 athletes competing May 4 at the 22nd Annual Special Olympics Spring Games 2005 at the German Police Academy in Enkenbach-Alsenborn.
***image2***“Just look at the smiles on the athletes’ faces,” said 415th Base Support Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Erik O. Daiga, who was overseeing his first KMC Special Olympics. “That’s why the Kaiserslautern American and German communities come together each year to support this event greater than ourselves.”
Special Olympics is an international program of athletic competition for children and adults with special needs.
It comes to the KMC each year courtesy of the 415th BSB. This is the seventh year that the German Police Academy has co-hosted the event.
“Michaela was a little bit shy about people clapping for or watching her compete, but once she was successful and won the race, she was overjoyed,” said her buddy, Carol A. Bellini, a KMC volunteer. “She knew she could do it from the very start and then, she was pleased with herself when she actually did do it.”
***image3***Mrs. Bellini was one of more than 1,500 German and American military and civilian volunteers, who donated their time to set up, tear down, run seven competitive and 12 non-competitive games, serve food, register athletes and be a “buddy.”
Each athlete had a buddy to help them throughout the day, going to events, getting lunch and being their personal cheerleader.
“It was much more than I expected,” said Mrs. Bellini, who has participated in Special Olympics in the United States four times, but this was her first KMC event. “Michaela was a wonderful, talented young woman who has many interests, and she was very exciting to be around.”
The athlete and her buddy hit all the competitive games – tennis, volleyball, basketball, softball, badminton, track and field, and soccer.
I’m kind of a tomboy so I like doing sports,” said the 14-year-old, who has Larsen Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that may include multiple joint dislocations. “My mom tells me I shouldn’t try to do what everyone else does, but I do it anyway because it’s fun.”
The lines for the games were a bit long, but Michaela made waiting fun said Mrs. Bellini.
“We had exciting talks in between, told jokes and riddles, and played thumb games, which made time pass really quickly,” she said. “She also interacted with children around her so I think she helped to make other people’s day as well as her own.”
***image4***“While waiting for the badminton event, Michaela struck up a conversation and a “Shame, Shame, Shame” hand game with fellow athlete Jessica Koepnick, 11, from Schule am Beilstein in Kaiserslautern, and her buddy, Air Force Staff Sgt. Shawna L. Hovestadt, U.S. Air Forces in Europe command and control instructor.
“You’re fun to wait in line with. The time went so fast,” Sergeant Hovestadt told Michaela.
So what if the lines were a bit long, as far as Mrs. Bellini was concerned the battalion’s Special Olympics was amazing.
“It’s very well organized. The volunteers were well informed on what to expect and how to prepare,” she said. “There are so many people here, but things are going in such a smooth manner. It’s really quite amazing.”
It’s “amazing” according to the Army Community Service Special Olympics
Coordinator Tasha R. Everett, because of the support from the entire 415th BSB, Air Force and local national communities, private organizations and agencies, contributors and sponsors throughout Kaiserslautern and the surrounding areas.
“We absolutely could not have done it without all of their help,” said Ms. Everett. “Our main goal is to have the athletes enjoy their day, and I personally believe we accomplish that.”
Michaela and her fellow Heidelberg athletes had to skip the awards ceremony to make the more than an hour trip back home, but as she was getting on the bus, she yelled to her buddy, “It was great being here with you.”
