Matthew Williams, Josh Low and Alistair Singh proudly soprted their red Team Canada jerseys in front of the crowd at the community celebration Aug. 13.
The three young men from Langley recently competed in the Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles July 23 to Aug. 2.
“It was amazing,” commented Singh, who has been involved in Special Olympics for 19 years.
The three local men were among the 6,500 athletes competing in 26 sports.
Low was the first gold of the games, winning for his 25-metre backstroke. He also placed fifth in his 25m freestyle, while he and his teammates on Canada’s 4 x 25m relay team swam to fourth.
Williams and Singh are on the same national basketball team.
“We are 12th in the world out of 28 teams,” Singh told the crowd.
Team Canada finished fourth, dropping a hard-fought 39-33 decision to Belgium in the bronze medal basektball game on July 31.
Williams is no stranger to the international spotlight, having been a Special Olympics ambassador travelling the world and advocating for SO, in addition to competing in many sports.
The local Special Olympics organization and Langley City made presentations to the three for representing Langley on the world stage.
“I think it’s fantastic,” said Val van den Broek, the City deputy mayor. “It shows that if you set your mind, your heart, your body and your soul 100 per cent into something, you can accomplish anything you want.”