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Hatter Christine Sullivan competes earlier this year at the Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi. Special Olympics Canada announced Thursday that the national games would be held in the Hat in 2022.
mcranker@medicinehatnews.com@MHNmocranker
Roughly 1,500 people from across the country will be travelling to Medicine Hat in 2022 for the Canadian Special Olympics.
Special Olympics Canada announced Thursday that the city would be playing host to the 2022 summer games – calling it a near-perfect landing spot for the festivities.
“Medicine Hat had a really, really strong bid,” said vice president of sport Blair McIntosh. “The city demonstrated that they would be athlete centred and focused on the caring comfort of our athletes.
“On top of that, it was clear that Medicine Hat has great facilities that meet the standards for all of our sports – the city is going to build a lot of excitement in the community.”
Medicine Hat was one of a handful of cities to show serious interest in hosting the games and Special Olympics Canada visited the city to make sure it was the right fit.
“During that site evaluation Medicine Hat really exceeded our expectations,” said McIntosh. “They did an amazing job and we really feel like this is a great fit.”
Athletes will be arriving to the city on Aug. 7 and will be staying until Aug. 14. Games will be running from Aug. 9-14.
The Games will include a wide variety of sports including soccer, basketball, bocce, golf, rhythmic gymnastics, powerlifting, softball and swimming. All events will be free to attend and watch.
McIntosh says Special Olympics Canada did a financial impact study at the 2018 Special Olympics in Antigonish, N.S., and it showed a large impact for the area.
“The economic impact on Antigonish was $8.7 million,” he said. “The impact was $10.7 million on the province of Nova Scotia – $12.7 (million) on the country.
“It’s a lot of people coming to the city. We’re confident in what we’ve seen from the city – we know everyone is going to be taken care of and that the athletes are going to have a good chance to compete.”
Mayor Ted Clugston said in a press release that this is a great opportunity for the city to show the rest of Canada what it has to offer.
“We’re a growing city with a small-town feel, community warmth and big-city business and services,” said Medicine Hat mayor, Ted Clugston. “The City of Medicine Hat is ready to share its community spirit and hospitality and welcome all participants and visitors to the Special Olympics Canada Summer Games in 2022.”
