Blue Dolphin medals at Olympics
When Kamilah Williamson and Stacey Johnston boarded the plane to Shanghai, China, last month for the Special Olympics World Games, neither of them had expected to come home with gold medals and special awards. In fact, the athletes were so surprised by the honors they received that they and their families were still somewhat dazed by what happened.
Williamson has swum in Long Lake in the summer since she was a little girl. The family lives on the lake shore. It seemed like a matter of convenience. Plus, “she just liked to have fun with it,” said her father, Brian Williamson.
Two years ago, Brian’s business partner got Kamilah involved in the Blue Dolphin, Spokane’s Special Olympic swim team. “At that time, we did not even know there was such a thing as Special Olympics,” Brian Williamson said. He still shakes with disbelief today at how fast she progressed in the short time she started to compete.
When she won the gold at state level and Team USA called in June 2006, Kamilah Williamson and her family got serious. The 19-year-old Lakeside High School senior started to practice three times a week at Whitworth University. Her efforts paid off. The Suncrest resident came home with a gold medal for 200-meter freestyle race, a silver medal for the team’s 4x100 relay and a fifth-place for the 100 freestyle.
The medals are not only a validation for all the efforts the young woman put forth into the sport, but a thank-you to her friend and mentor, Stacey Johnston, a teammate at Blue Dolphin. When Williamson joined the Blue Dolphin two years ago, she had great potential but lacked formal training. Johnston was the fastest member of the team at that time. Seeing the potential of the younger woman, Johnston put aside her own ambition and goal and spent countless hours helping Kamilah perfecting her skills and techniques.
“She knows fully well the consequence of helping Kamilah. But she wanted Kamilah to have that chance. It was an act of total selflessness and sacrifice on her part,” Brian Williamson said.
For her altruism and the generosity of the spirit, Special Olympics took note, and on Oct 4, awarded Johnston, a Garland neighborhood resident, with a “Special Spirit in China Award of Excellence.” It is the highest honor the organization gives to people who have had special and significant contribution to the cause of the Special Olympics.
This year’s award was the first time the committee had given out in the last 10 years. Among the 13 honorees, which include such luminaries as Nelson Mandela, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Vanessa Williams, Johnston was the only Special Olympics athlete that received the award. The committee honored her for her “special inspiration and leadership among athletes of all nations.”
Johnston has been participating in the Olympics for the past 21 years and has served on its board of directors since 2001. As a global messenger for the games, she has traveled around the world promoting the events, educating the people, working tirelessly to raise awareness and acceptance of people with intellectual disabilities.