"You Deserve the Gold"

The law enforcement officer pictured on the left is from Hawaii and touched the audience with the story about how he became involved with the Special Olympics. He told the crowd gathered at Wood River High that his brother, who has a learning disability and competes as a Special Olympics athlete, is an inspiration to him. The law enforcement officer had been a wrestler in high school. After returning from two state wrestling competitions, having placed fifth and third, the officer was pretty proud of his accomplishments. However, each time the officer arrived home only to be greeted both times by his brother wearing the gold medals that he had won in the Special Olympics. His brother stated, “I got gold.” When the officer returned home the second time with his bronze medal, his brother finally asked him, “Did you do your best?” The officer replied, “Yes.” His brother then took his gold medal from around his neck, gave it to the officer and stated, “Then you deserve the gold.”