Gold for ballymores peter at special olympics

Ballymore’s Peter Malynn won a gold medal at the Special Olympics yesterday.

Peter (57) won the medal in a tense final in the singles bocce competition, which is a ball sport similar to bowls. The final score in his match was 9-7 and the Westmeath man was thrilled with the outcome.

Peter is at the Games representing St Hilda’s Work Therapy Day Service in Cornamagh.

Manager of St Hilda’s Work Therapy Day Service, Syra Reid told the Westmeath Independent yesterday (Tuesday): “We are delighted that Peter (Malynn) has been given this opportunity to travel to LA for this experience. He’ll really soak it up and enjoy it.”

She thanked all of the staff and management of the service for their support in developing bocce and organising leagues all over the country since it was introduced by Special Olympics in 2000.

In particular, she had special thanks for Joan Scanlan, a staff member in St Hilda’s who trained in the sport and has been responsible for much of its development in the interim along with St Kieran’s Community Centre, who allow the service to use their facilities weekly and Ann Marie Mulvey.

“We’re constantly looking at Facebook to see how they are getting on. We had a couple of send-offs for Peter with bunting and signs last week and we will certainly have more when he comes home,” added Syra.

Peter is a member of Team Ireland, which has been having great success to date at the Games in Los Angeles, with Team Ireland winning eleven medals yesterday, on day three of the Games, bringing the tally to 15 medals.