A team of 17 athletes and 10 coaches/officials left the island yesterday bound for the 2019 Special Olympics World Games in United Arab Emirates.

The event will commence with a star-studded opening ceremony in the iconic Zayed Sports City Stadium in the heart of Abu Dhabi next Thursday. It is the first Special Olympics World Games to take place in the Middle East/North Africa region and will be split between the bustling cities of Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

The Zayed stadium is the largest sports venue in the Persian Gulf and more than 7,500 athletes from 190 countries are expected to attend the ceremony prior to the start of competition in 24 summer sports. The Games will also involve 2,500 coaches and 20,000 volunteers.

It will feature inspiring non-sports activities and programmes, including unified sports experiences, free healthy athletes screenings, the global youth leadership summit and the law enforcement torch run.

By travelling to the area early, the Isle of Man team will have time to acclimatise for a few days and see some of the sights of Abu Dhabi prior to the start of the Games. They will participate in preliminary events for divisioning and then onto their respective finals. The Games then run until their close on March 21.

Special Olympics IoM team will compete in athletics, aquatics, bocce, badminton, 10-pin bowling, cycling and gymnastics.

National director, Beryl Wooldridge, spoke about the team’s preparations prior to its departure: ’Our athletes are very excited about travelling to the United Arab Emirates to represent their country.

’Under the guidance of their dedicated coaches, they have been training hard and are looking forward to the experience, hopefully collecting some medals, making some personal bests, seeing different cultures and making new friends.

’The World Games are a wonderful opportunity to showcase the Special Olympics movement and to celebrate the abilities and accomplishments of people with intellectual disabilities.’

Special Olympics Isle of Man wishes to thank everyone who has donated or helped in any way to make the 14-day trip to the UAE possible.

l For more information on the 2019 Special Olympics Abu Dhabi Games visit www.abudhabi2019.org