Special Olympics – Family and friends of Sebastian Gylander have been getting themselves out of bed at 2:30 in the morning recently, to watch him race with Canada’s Cross Country Ski Team at the Special Olympics (SO) World Winter Games in Torino, Italy.
Jeff and Joan Dolinsky have been there, providing video footage, encouragement and congratulations as Sebastian raced to the finish of the 7.5km freestyle, winning a very convincing Gold medal.
The 5km race saw him gain a very respectable 4th place the following day despite falling in icy conditions. Then came the final day when Canada entered four relay teams in four different categories, all skiing 4 x 1km. This involved almost all the skiers on the Canadian team.
Sebastian’s job was to ski the final leg for his team, and once he was tagged he flew past six other racers to gain the gold medal for his team and help Canada win all four Gold medals in the relay event! Sixteen Canadian athletes will bring home gold medals from the relay event alone, and Jeff’s comment was that he felt a bit sorry for all the other nations skiing there.
Sebastian has had a great time, and it’s clear he is in his comfort zone with his team friends and is right in his element. On his very first trip to the World Games has shown that he has the skills, speed and attitude to be a great member of Team Canada in future years.
The Games have been well organized, with positive and friendly people everywhere. All the hard work is followed by Closing Ceremonies and a huge dance party. The fun part is very important and very much deserved by all.
This qualifies Sebastian as a local hero, and to see a World Champion SO skier in action, in his Team Canada uniform, come out to Dawn Mountain on Sunday, March 23rd, where he will join six other SO athletes, including Golden’s other SO World Games Gold Medallist, Shelly Poland (it must be something in the snow!), as they see how many times they can ski the 1 km loop in two hours, for their Ski-a-thon fundraiser.
Go to https://sobccommunity.crowdchange.ca/92598, for more info.
Thursday March 20th at 3:30 pm, there is a Celebration for Sebastian at St Paul’s Anglican Church: all are welcome.
