People of 小优短视频: Alumna skates her way to Special Olympics Canada gold 聽
April 18, 2024
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People of 小优短视频: Meet Brooke Thomas
It was very happy and excited to win gold at the .
It felt very amazing to actually win and know that all your hard work paid off. You get to show not only Ontario, but Canada, that you were made to do this.
I started figure skating at the age of four, and then I started competing with Special Olympics at the age of eight. So, I鈥檝e kind of always been a competing athlete.
I have cerebral palsy on my right side, and I knew that doing 鈥渞egular鈥 sports wasn鈥檛 going to be a thing for me, so to find Special Olympics was pretty amazing.
I鈥檝e made new friends and met people just like me from all over Canada.
To prepare for the Winter Games, I would go to the gym and see my local trainer two to three times a week, and then I would also skate twice a week. On top of that, you work and do your regular life activities.
It was kind of mentally grueling and exhausting.
But I just love skating. It is just something I go back to all the time. When you鈥檙e out on the ice, you don鈥檛 really think about anything that鈥檚 going on 鈥 like your personal life or what鈥檚 happening at work 鈥 you鈥檙e just there to have fun and do the best that you can.
I鈥檓 continuing to train for the next Special Olympics in four years, and I may be going to the .
I would tell others who are interested in competing to just try their best and know that they鈥檙e going to fall down, but just know that you can get back up and keep going.
Through skating and competing, I鈥檝e learned that when I set my mind to something, I can do it.
All my homework has paid off, and I can do basically anything I put my mind to.
Brooke Thomas, alumna of the Community Integration Through Co-operative Education program at 小优短视频鈥檚 Owen Sound Campus. Brooke also won gold in free skate at the .