The remaining Special Olympics Southern California athletes closed out the 2019 World Games strong — and one runner, in particular, received a much welcomed surprise on Wednesday.
Three days ago, Tyrone Garrett was given a \”maximum effort\” disqualification in the 200-meter race. Upon further review, officials reversed the decision and Garrett was awarded the gold medal for his time of 35.37 seconds. The time edged Kosovo\’s Sheqir Vllasaliu by eight hundredths of a second for the top finish.
Redemption was the theme at the track for Special Olympics USA\’s Southern Californians.
With a sixth-place ribbon already under her belt, Sarah Kovacs earned her first medal of the Games in the women\’s 800-meter run. Her time of 2:58.23 netted the silver.
Kovacs got off to a strong start, and even had the lead momentarily, before Canada\’s Audrey Vincent pulled away going into the final lap.
The medal was a moment of redemption for Kovacs, who drew a disqualification along with a majority of the field in the same race last summer at the USA Games.
Kovacs and Garrett also took part in separate 4×100-meter relays. Kovacs added a gold to her collection, as the American women finished in 1:21.41. Garrett and a co-ed group placed fourth in a hotly contested division, clocking in at 1:11.81.
On the golf course, Faith Demos equaled her best round at the Games including divisioning play, shooting a 70 to close out the level 4, 9-hole competition. After posting a cumulative score of 284, she earned a participation ribbon for her four-day effort.
In formal awards ceremonies, tennis players Mark Hanson (silver) and Krystal Johnson (bronze) received their medals after wrapping up singles competitions the previous day.
