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Show EdliutaDirnaH They picked the right city What between the television coverage of the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, local newspaper coverage of the recent Junior III Olympics at the Park City Ski Area, and all the talk about Utah bidding for the Winter Games in '92 or '96, you might think locals would have closed their ears at the mention of one more "Olympics." But that hasn't happened. This weekend, Park City will host the Utah Special Olympics Olym-pics Winter Games. And, from all indications, the event has the solid support of the community. According to Jim Murphy, director of the Utah Special Olympics, enough host families already have been found in the area to house roughly 200 athletes and 100 coaches who will be here for the Winter Games. To use Murphy's words, "This ranks among the best support we (the Special Olympics) Olym-pics) have ever received." Besides those people who are providing housing, offers of help have come from the Men's Coalition, the Park City Rotary Club, the Park City Prospectors (the ambassador group of the ChamberBureau), the Park City School District, the Recreation Department and Park City Transit. Our hats are off to those people. Their unselfish spirit is one of those things that makes our town unique. For those of you who haven't been following it closely, the skiing portion of the Special Olympics Winter Games will be here Friday and Saturday. Time trials will be held Friday afternoon, the events themselves on Saturday. The alpine races will be held at the Park City Ski Area, the nor- die races at White Pine Touring Center. There are a couple of common misconceptions about the Special Olympics. One is that the competitors are physically handicapped; the other is that they are all kids. Murphy points out that the Special Olympics are designed specifically for the mentally retarded, although some people within that group may also have physical handicaps. And the ages of the participants range from eight to 54. (That's just the age range for the Winter Games. Murphy says there's a man who competes in bowling in the Summer Games who's 92 years old. ) The first Utah Special Olympics Winter Games were held in 1981. They attracted about 25 alpine and 30 cross country contestants. This year they're expecting 75 alpine and 175 cross country skiers. Although enough housing has been offered to meet the needs of the visitors, volunteers are still needed to help run the events, especially the cross country events. Those who are interested shoujdcall the Special Olympics office at 649-1985. 649-1985. 7 As most locals are already aware, this is really only a preliminary to the Big Event the International Special Olympics Winter Games which will be held in Park City about a year from now. Judging from the local support behind this year's event, we've got to say that the people who picked Park City for the International Games made a wise choice. -DH |