The Big Island’s Isaiah Wong is bringing home a haul of medals from the Special Olympic World Games in Los Angeles. ADVERTISING The Big Island’s Isaiah Wong is bringing home a haul of medals from the Special Olympic World Games
The Big Island’s Isaiah Wong is bringing home a haul of medals from the Special Olympic World Games in Los Angeles.
Wong received silver in squat with 180 kilograms, silver in bench with a 107.5 kilograms and gold in deadlift with 205 kilograms. Wong also won gold in a combination of all three lifts with 492.5 kilograms — which equals 1094.5 pounds lifted.
“Isaiah Wong is on cloud nine right now celebrating with his teammates,” said his coach Denise Lindsey. “I am so proud of his accomplishment and he is truly the world’s best in the 93-kilogram weight class at Special Olympics World Games.”
More than 7,000 athletes from 177 countries competed at the event in 25 sports. There were also 30,000 voulenteers, 3,000 coaches and an estimated 500,000 spectators at the largest event hosted by Los Angeles since the 1984 Olympic Games.
Special Olympics World Games Los Angeles 2015 were a milestone event of a long-lasting movement, founded in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, to create a world that is not dominated by those who are excluded but by those who are included.
The World Games started July 25 and runs through Aug. 2.
For more on the event, visit la2015.org.