Abu Dhabi: Disowned by her grandmother for being intellectually challenged, Special Olympics legend Loretta Claiborne has been through the pain and anguish one faces to be accepted in society.
Claiborne, born partially blind in Pennsylvania in 1953, was unable to walk or speak until the age of four. Subject to constant taunts and ostracism, Claiborne needed a platform to find herself and that came with the beginning of the Special Olympics movement.
Introduced to Special Olympics in 1971, things changed completely for Claiborne and she had a new meaning to life from then on. Now 64, Claiborne was in the capital for the International Conference of Sports for Women and she went down memory lane.
- Loretta Claiborne » US Special Olympics
“Before I started in Special Olympics, life was very difficult. When I was in high school I wanted to be a part of a lot of things. That didn’t go well with many and in United State they use a word of us which I don’t want to mention here but I would say, it was like we ‘don’t take retards’,” said Claiborne, who recalled how she was afraid to train, fearing constant bullying.
“It was one of the things that kept following me and that made it hard. I didn’t want to go for practice and my mom would say ‘you got to go’. I wanted to quit and my mom would say ‘if you quit now you will be always quitting in life’,” revealed Claiborne, who is indebted to the founder of Special Olympics Eunice Kennedy Shriver for the life-changer.
Claiborne recalled how she met Shriver at the 1972 LA Games after her disappointing performance which made her realise the importance of being part of the movement even if one is not winning. “I had lost a race and I was so angry. Then a women walked up to me and spoke. I didn’t care who she was as I was angry and upset. When she left, my coach asked, ‘do you know who she is? She is Eunice Kennedy Shriver who started this Games’. That made me think, who would care about somebody like me. My mom never left the town and here’s her daughter with intellectual disability flying 3,000 miles to participate. That was the most memorable moment of my life,” revealed Claiborne.
Thanks to the Special Olympics Movement, the mindset of people have changed over the years, says Claiborne, a seasoned athlete in karate, skiing, skating and basketball and who holds the women’s record for the 5,000-metre run in the Special Olympics World Games in her age category.
“Lot of that change (people’s mindset) is because of the movement of Special Olympics. People with intellectual disabilities have been there for years. These people have been supported for years by various organisations but they didn’t have the power like the Special Olympics. We’ve had the power to show society that disabled people can run, they can swim, can lift weights and do so much. Sports draws people and because of sport, it has opened the minds of people in the society towards disability,” said Claiborne, who called for the women in the UAE to come out and support the forthcoming MENA Regional Games and 2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games to be held in Abu Dhabi.
“I have seen that in the Special Olympic Movement, there are more women at the top. Being a women and a mother of a child, she understands the cause better. They will always have something to give and are a power. Being a part of these events is what they should look forward to. They can be a part of this movement in so many ways,” added Claiborne.
