Fri, 04 Dec 2009 5:33p.m.
By Rachel Morton
The National Special Olympics are under way in Palmerston North.
They're held every four years and are part of the build up to the World Special Olympics in Greece in 2012.
Twenty-two-year-old Chris Tilley won four gold medals today. He was optimistic heading into the competition.
"There's a small chance you might not win, but it's most likely that you will win, but you never say definitely."
Tilley has Asperger's Syndrome. This is his second National Special Olympics – he has also attended a World Special Olympics where he won three gold medals.
He is one of more than 1000 athletes taking part in the nationals in 10 different sports.
Former professional basketballer Ed Book coaches Nelson's Waimea College basketball team, and although the message of the Special Olympics is participation, they play with a high skill level.
"I don't expect anything less from these guys as I do from them," says Book. "We just keep going for it, trying to improve, get them outside that comfort zone."
Book says being part of a team sport teaches the students teamwork and confidence.
"Their confidence has grown a lot since the start of the year. A lot of them were afraid of the ball and now they're trying to grab the rebounds."
The athletes have to attend a certain number of training sessions to be eligible for the World Special Olympics, and they have to compete at nationals.
The World Special Olympics will be held in Greece in 2012. Tilley won't be eligible because athletes can't compete in consecutive Olympics. He attended the last Special Olympics in Beijing, but he's already looking forward to 2016 and might even switch codes.
"If I'm not allowed to do weightlifting I might get into doing a bit of swimming instead," he says.
For now though he's just happy with today's uplifting experience.
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