Close to 300 athletes, one-third of who are wounded warriors, convened June 7-12 to participate in 11 sports competitions and sports clinics at the 13th annual University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) Endeavor Games, Edmond. Ranging in age from 2 ½ years to 69 years, participants came from 36 states, as well as from Puerto Rico, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
Two-time Paralympic gold medalist Jeremy Campbell set a new world record in the men’s discus F44/42 on June 10 at the UCO Endeavor Games. Photograph courtesy of the UCO Endeavor Games.
Training clinics for aspiring athletes kicked off on Thursday, June 7, while the next day and evening saw the start of competition and the opening ceremony. As part of the opening evening’s events, members of the U.S. National Sled Hockey team provided athletes with instruction in sled hockey. The event also included screenings of the movies Dolphin Tale and Soul Surfer, face painting, a photo booth, and pick-up basketball and sitting volleyball games.
Adding to the competition excitement this year was the breaking of two world records.
Jeremy Campbell, who has a right transtibial amputation, broke his world record for discus in his classification after throwing 63.46 meters Saturday, June 9. His previous record was 62.3 meters, which he also set that same day. Campbell, a resident athlete at UCO, already has two gold medals from the 2008 Beijing Paralympics-for discus and the pentathlon.
The other world record came from Angela Madsen who put the shot 9.5 meters in the sitting shot put event on Saturday. A six-time U.S. National Team member, Madsen participated in the 2008 Beijing Paralympics in rowing, according to the U.S. Paralympic team website.
Campbell and Madsen now go on to the U.S. Paralympic trials in Indianapolis, Indiana, June 29 to July 1.
Leigha Pemberton, UCO Wellness Center sports programs coordinator, said it’s exciting that these records were broken at the Endeavor Games. “It gives our event even more credibility that our athletes are hitting more world records here,” she told the Edmond Sun.
The 2013 UCO Endeavor Games are scheduled for June 6-9.
