Special Olympics BC – Port Alberni’s Jolyn Watts will be competing with pride in athletics at the 2023 Special Olympics World Games in Berlin, happening June 17 to 25!
“I’m really happy and really excited,” the runner from the Tseshaht First Nation said to the Ha-Shilth-Sa Newspaper.
Watts has been involved with Special Olympics for 20 years, and is excited to be representing Canada at the World Games! This will be her first time competing on the international stage, and she feels "proud, excited, and happy" to be part of the national team.
Watts joins 21 other incredible athletes, coaches, and mission staff from B.C. on the Special Olympics Team Canada 2023 Training Squad.
Watts says Special Olympics has "has allowed me to become more social, make new friends, travel, and try new activities." She is also a swimmer. She is proud of being part of a team, and "winning medals when I do my very best!"
Mike Riddalls volunteers as her coach with SOBC – Port Alberni athletics and as her SO Team Canada 2023 training coach. He says Watts is very dedicated to her training, and her strength is her endurance in long-distance races.
“She’s a very upbeat individual,” he said. “She loves to train, which really helps.”
SOBC is so proud of Watts and all of B.C.'s dedicated and determined members of Special Olympics Team Canada 2023! Join us in cheering them on at the 2023 SO World Summer Games June 17 to 25!
SOBC – Port Alberni Athlete Reporters Crystal Rousseau and Kimberly Giesbrecht created an amazing video interviewing Watts and Riddalls, on the excitement of Watts going to Berlin!
Meet the SO Team Canada 2023 Training Squad members from B.C.