With a loudspeaker crackling out a list of runners by country, Mark Wolffer strides onto USC’s red rubber track, grins, raises his right arm and offers a wave befitting a champion.
High school cheerleaders in sparkling red-and-white outfits wave pompoms. Wolffer’s mother, Sabrina, smiles as she captures the moment on video. His brothers, Ben and Jeremy, applaud like crazy. His coach, Jennifer Purcell shouts a “woo-ooo!”
The event is just one of hundreds during this week’s Special Olympics World Games. And with the athletes sweating in sweltering heat and giving every competitive moment their all, more than anything the Games themselves are about sport.
Still, these Games also are about tackling adversities that – admittedly – terrify many of us. They are about people with challenges moving forward with endless positive energy. And they are about family and friends and volunteers coming together simply to create happiness.
Sabrina, who carpooled from Anaheim, tears up watching her son run. Charlene Kozlowski does the same when her son kills it during a round of golf. Same with Brea mother Rosanne Scott when her son wins a gold medal in tennis.
That other Olympics? Awesome. But these Games make you cheer and cry at the same time. They also remind how precious every minute is – no matter what.
THE TENNIS PLAYER
It’s Wednesday, and Jeff Scott easily accepts a challenge that few in the tennis world would ever take on. He is about to play the final round in doubles in the Olympics at the Los Angeles Tennis Center with a partner he has never met.
But Scott, born with slow learning skills and now 46, has overcome far higher hurdles. How high? He’s climbed the highest mountain in Africa, Kilimanjaro.
Some ask, why climb? A famous answer is, “Because it’s there.” But Scott had a far better reason. After making it to the 19,308-foot summit, he explained that he climbed to “send a message to all the other athletes that they can do something like this, too.”
Fifteen years later, Scott continues to exemplify that same giving and grit. He maintains and pays for his own apartment off his parents’ home in Brea. He learned to drive and bought a car. For a dozen years, he has worked full time as a custodian for the county.
In humidity and smog, Scott enters the court with Robert Williams. Two strangers facing two unknowns.
That sort of challenge is common in these Games. Some 7,000 athletes represent more than 170 countries. But it turns out throwing two strangers together in competition opens doors to quick friendships.
The battle is intense. Scott and Williams trade volley after volley against two Belgians, Tom Thierie and Jochen Fens. Finally, it’s over. USA gold.
Scott is so exhausted he can’t talk.
His parents are in the stands. For years, they have seen their son play every tournament. But they have never seen a game like this. His mother shares that at the end her son and partner “were just beat. It was the most incredible match we’ve ever seen.”
She echoes her son’s statement after climbing Kilimanjaro.
“He’s an example to the younger athletes. They look up to him.”
THE GOLFER
Golfing five days in a row in swampy conditions after sleeping in a strange bed can be tough for even the most avid golfer. And by Thursday, Greg Kozlowski was less than thrilled with his game.
So let’s go back to Wednesday and visit the back nine at Harding Golf Course in Griffith Park.
After several tough days, Kozlowski walks the green with his coach-caddy. Things start well and only get better. He bogeys a hole. One over par. Not bad.
Then the 50-year-old Garden Grove resident, who lives on his own, scores several birdies. He’s in the groove. He fist-bumps his coach, who offers, “You’re playing like a champion.”
Kozlowski, who happens to have a learning disability, is satisfied. Not thrilled, mind you. He usually plays quite well, thank you.
Still, he practiced more than usual for these rounds. That’s what you do when you are selected to compete in the Special Olympics World Games.
After the round, Kozlowski tells me: “Yesterday, I got a 62, and today I just popped off a little 44 with a great shot through the trees. I’m having fun today, better than yesterday.”
Of course, Kozlowski, in true golfer mode, can’t resist adding, “I’m hoping it will be better tomorrow.”
After Thursday, Kozlowski knows he needs to recoup for his final match today. He spends the afternoon teaching fellow athletes the significance of Olympic pins, a collecting mania some of us remember from the 1984 Olympics.
After a break at a nearby restaurant, Kozlowski’s mother, Charlene, shares what it’s like to have a son who is one of four athletes sponsored by Coca-Cola in these Games. “It’s phenomenal.”
She allows having a special-needs family member is different. “Some families have weddings and births. This is a benchmark milestone in our family’s life.”
THE RUNNER
Wolffer lines up with seven athletes at USC’s Loker stadium on Wednesday morning. In the next few minutes, this little group will run 400 meters in about a minute.
Who wins and who loses will be decided in split seconds. Sure, it’s politically correct to say everyone’s a winner in these Games. And in spirit, that’s true. Still, the Special Olympics are about competition.
The 22-year-old from Anaheim lines up wearing a white shirt with a red stripe. Wearing a blue Special Olympics World Games T-shirt with red-and-white lettering, mother Sabrina leaves her seat in the stands and presses against the fence separating the track to capture the finish on video. Brother Jeremy’s smile disappears. Coach Purcell stands, jaw tight.
The competition in the 400-meter promises to be tough: Mexico, Canada, Barbados, Netherlands, Tanzania and Costa Rica.
Gun time. Wolffer, who will attend Cypress College in the fall, flies down his lane. But some are faster. Barbados wins. Wolffer captures fifth, just one second behind.
But in the heat of the afternoon, Wolffer starts to fade. His extended family includes friends as well as his dad, Mark. Some arrived by bus and train and will leave by bus and train. For a few minutes of support, they travel for hours. But no one cares. They are here to cheer, to support the athlete with the biggest smile on the field.
For this race, covering 200 meters, Wolffer again jets. But Pakistan wins, Algeria grabs second, Malaysia third. Wolffer places eighth out of eight.
Purcell yells, “Good job, Mark!” And she is right. Most of us couldn’t touch Wolffer’s 33-second 200-meter time.
Jeremy, wearing a shirt that matches mom’s, smiles. “This is awesome. I wouldn’t miss it.”
Sabrina takes off her red, white and blue star-shaped sunglasses. Happiness dances over her face. “I feel good. He loves his time. It’s overwhelming.”
With a learning disability and a speech impairment, Wolffer doesn’t say much. But he doesn’t need to. Looking up in the stands and seeing family, his smile says it all.
Kozlowski will golf his final game today. Scott is expected to play his last match Saturday. On Saturday, Wolffer, too, will wrap up with a relay.
After Sunday’s closing ceremony, the memories will endure and so will the medals and ribbons. Yes, these global competitions are about sport. But these special athletes also carry something else:
Special connections across the planet.
Contact the writer: dwhiting@ocregister.com
