Editorial

Malta should be proud of them, our brave 19. They deserved the welcome they received last Sunday. On reflection, they actually deserved a greater one. Perhaps we, the media, are partly to blame for not leading the way, for not plugging enough the noteworthy success of Malta's Special Olympics team in the World Summer Games held in Shanghai, China.

The Times is proud to sing their praises here.

Nineteen athletes suffering from some disability or other flew out to Shanghai for the third edition of the Games at the end of last month to take their place against nearly 5,300 other men and women from 164 countries. They were accompanied by 2,303 coaches (including six from Malta). Remarkably, they returned to Malta and to a great reception with seven gold, 11 silver and 15 bronze medals. That is a triumph by any standard. When have we ever seen so many medals won by so few?

We salute them and their families for a number of reasons.

First, for their will power in overcoming their disability to such an extent that they competed abroad with such fluency in whatever sport they took part in.

Second, for their determination not merely to participate but to win.

Third, for the sheer sense of character they displayed to reach the standard they achieved.

Fourth, for their confidence in themselves and for the confidence placed in them by their families, their coaches, the Special Olympics Committee and its president, Mario Meli, the ministry responsible for sports and the Vodafone Malta Foundation.

Our athletes seemed to have excelled in gymnastics, the 12 participants in 12 events collecting a combined total of 12 medals.

The Maltese team also competed in swimming events, bowling and athletics.

Without wishing to fall into the invidious temptation of comparisons, one competitor, Natalie Galea, hauled in two gold and three silver medals. Little wonder she returned to Malta excited, as indeed did the rest of the athletes. How hard they must all have trained. How fulfilled they must feel. How excited with these results must be those who trained them. Surely there is something the rest of us and, in particular, our Olympics team that will be competing in Beijing next summer, have learned as a result of these magnificent men and women.

Clichéd though it may sound, our winners at Shanghai have demonstrated in an exciting manner the old adage that where there's a will there is a way and, if metaphors may be mixed, success will attend those who reach for the sky, especially when they do so against the odds.

The question comes forth unbid. Is our Beijing team similarly motivated? The past is not likely to lead us to be very optimistic. However, and this is another plus for our Special Olympics team, the substantial success of the Shanghai experience should provide enough motivation for the Beijing competitors and their coaches to strain every sinew and to go that extra mile to match the performance of their disabled, but superbly able, brothers and sisters.

There is another cliché one feels constrained to use, even if this is done with humility. It is often said that the older generation was brought up on the Latin saying mens sana in corpore sano. How exalting it is to witness the spirit of disabled men and women rise so far above any disability that it makes them achieve what would not have been dreamed of two decades ago. Maltese society is more sane for their splendid achievement.