Nearly 300 Special Olympics Virginia athletes will be in Northern Virginia on January 21st & 22nd to compete in the annual state Winter Championships. For the third year, two-person team bowling is on the schedule of the Winter Championships in addition to figure and speed ice skating and gymnastics. Figure and speed ice skating will be held at the Ashburn Ice House, while Capital Gymnastics in Burke will host the gymnastics championships and AMF Centreville serve as the home to two-person team bowling competition.
The opening ceremony for two person team bowling will begin at 9:00 a.m., followed by the figure skating finals at 9:15 a.m. and the speed skating finals at 11:00 am. Awards for both competitions will follow the speed skating events.
The gymnastics opening ceremony will begin at 2:30 p.m., followed by competition that will include numerous gymnastic events including vaulting, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. Men’s events will be conducted in the floor exercise, pommel horse, rings, vaulting, parallel bars and horizontal bars.
Presented by Booz Allen Hamilton, the Winter Championships are the second of five championships in 2005 for Special Olympics Virginia that provides year-round sports training and athletic competition for over 14,000 athletes with mental disabilities in the Commonwealth. The organization receives no federal funding and relies on private and corporate support as well as the efforts of nearly 20,000 volunteers. The public is invited to come out and attend these events free of charge. Winter Championships additional sponsors include Cox Communications, The Journal Newspapers and ExxonMobile. For more information please call 1-800-932-GOLD
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