Speed skater Cynthia Simmons travelled more than 1,500 kilometres to compete in the 2012 Special Olympics Canada Winter Games this week and she’s made the lengthy trip worthwhile.
One of the youngest athletes in the Games, and at 14 the youngest of three representing the Northwest Territories, Simmons will be returning home with four silver medals. She finished second in the 333-, 555-, 777- and 1,000-metre events.
“It’s fun and I never did it before, so it was enjoyable and I really liked it,” she said about participating in the games.
Her mother, father and brother – all from Yellowknife – attended the games, as did her grandmother from Thunder Bay, Ont. Each was overcome with excitement as Simmons took the podium during the award ceremonies on both Wednesday and Thursday.
“It was an awesome experience,” said mother Rachell Simmons. “It’s nice to see her shine.”
She said her daughter doesn’t usually take the podium in the other events she competes in, so the Special Olympics provides her a unique opportunity.
“If she would have been up there once, it would have been enough, but it was four times,” she said.
Simmons said she was happy with her performance in each category and was excited to represent her territory at the Special Olympics.
“A lot of my team from Yellowknife that I speed skate in my normal group (with) said ‘good luck.’ When I go there, they will be proud,” she said.
Grant Marriott, board member with Special Olympics Northwest Territories, said he too was proud of Simmons as well as the other two athletes from the territory.
Simmons trains roughly three times a week for various speed skating events. She began speed skating when she was just five years old and has worked her way up the levels and now competes in the older, more competitive group.
The speed skating community in Yellowknife is quite large, but she said she still manages to do well, and the only thing that sometimes gets in the way is nerves.
“If I know the people I don’t get nervous, but if I don’t know the people, I get nervous,” Simmons said, adding the unfamiliar faces in the 500-metre race made her a bit anxious prior to hitting the ice.
Simmons' experience at the Special Olympics not only had a positive impact on her, but also on her 13-year-old brother and biggest cheerleader, their mother said.
"He's now able to see that all her hard work paid off," she said, adding that the pair started speed skating together.
He has since stopped skating, but continues to support his big sister, she said.
A broken ankle last year put Simmons’ future in speed skating in jeopardy and she still has to be careful on the ice, especially on long days like those at the Games.
“I have to be really careful with it,” she said. “It can sometimes be stiff and I have to do stretches and physio.”
Along with speed skating, Simmons also participates in competitive swimming.
