Special Olympics: Jenna's Gold Medal Journey

By Maggie Montgomery
Community Submission
02:31PM / Wednesday, March 04, 2009

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Editor's Note: Fifteen-year-old Jenna of North Adams, a member of the local Special Olympics team, Greylock Tigers, her mother, Marguerite Montgomery, and Tigers coach Susanna Thomas traveled to Boise, Idaho, last month for the World Winter Games 2009. It was Jenna's first time at the World Games and she came home with a gold medal for cross country skiing in her category. This is Montgomery's travel journal.

Feb. 4 & 5, 2009

Today is the day we get to take Jenna to Logan [International Airport] so that she can fly out to Salt Lake City to meet the rest of Team USA. We are staying in a hotel near the airport since she has to be at the airport for 4:30 a.m. Once we put Jenna on the plane, we are heading back to our hotel to rest a little before we drive to Bradley [International Airport], where we are flying out on Friday, Feb. 6.  
 
Feb. 6, 2009 
 
We have all made it safe and sound. Jenna arrived in Salt Lake City on Thursday night to meet up with Team USA. She left this morning for Boise, Idaho, and arrived in a caravan of about 20 buses with a police escort at about 5 p.m.  Susanna and I arrived in Boise at about 5 p.m. after having to go to St. Paul, Minn., then to Portland, Ore., before landing in Boise. We are at our hotel for tonight and getting ready for opening ceremonies tomorrow.  Then we are heading to Sun Valley right after opening ceremonies. We will keep you all posted.

Feb. 7, 2009

Maggie and Jenna

Well today are the opening ceremonies for the Special Olympics. The weather is beautiful. We are walking around with just turtlenecks and sweat shirts. Nampa [Idaho] is really beautiful. We got to see all the buses in the parking lot and got a little glimpse of Jenna with Team USA as they were heading into lunch. She looked really happy and excited as we were to be there. 

Opening ceremonies were totally phenomenal. More than words can ever explain. It was great — Kenny G was there and wrote a special song just for this event. There was also a lot of celebrities such as Scott Hamilton, Maria Shriver, Bart Conner and many more. The entertainment was great.  

We got to see Jenna at the end of them for a couple of minutes and to meet Coach R [Roger Rakowski]. He is totally cool and so much fun. Jenna and the rest of the Nordic skiers had to get on the bus to head to Twin Falls for the night. Susanna and I were driving out to Sun Valley right after opening ceremonies so that we were there when the Nordic skiers got there. It was a very long drive; it took us three hours to get to our hotel.  

Feb. 8, 2009 

It is Sunday and we are in Sun Valley, Idaho. Jenna has also arrived for practice starting at 11:30 until 4 today.  We are going out to see to what is in Sun Valley and to try to peek at her during practice. Today, Susanna and I are going to explore before Jenna starts to compete tomorrow. The mountains are beautiful. There isn't a lot of snow on them, however, but they are still breathtaking. Our hotel is really close to where Jenna is staying. She is staying right at Sun Valley Resort. She gets chocolates on her pillow every night before they go to bed and the bed is turned down for them. They are getting treated like royalty.  
 
Feb. 9, 2009

Just a quick update on the activities that were being held today. Jenna had to do her time trial today for her 500-meter and 1-kilometer races. In her 500-meter, she had an unofficial time of 4.50; when she was in Weston, she did it in 6.30. So she did totally awesome today. We got her 1k time of 10.52; when she was in training camp, she did her 1K in 25 minutes, at Weston she did it in 14.32. Jenna is doing excellent. 

She is having the time of her life. Today was a little rough since they had them up at 5:15 to get ready for breakfast then off to warm up for the day. She is rooming with her good friend Maria from New York. Susanna and I are having a blast being around all of these totally awesome athletes. We are meeting a lot of new people and the people of Idaho are very friendly. We got to meet this very nice person Heather and her Mom. They were asking questions and then asked which [competitor] was mine, I told them she was just coming out for her 500M time trial. They started to root for her. They were very sweet. 
 
Feb. 10, 2009 

Today Jenna had her finals in her 500M race. She started off the day being able to sleep in a little bit. They got up at 6 instead of 5 a.m. We got to the venue and they were starting to warm up with a couple of laps around the track and then they did a run around the 500M course. She then was able to relax until her final at 12:30 (our time), 2:30 your time. She did totally awesome and was able to shave another 10 seconds off her time from yesterday.

In her division there were seven girls who she was racing against. She came in 5th place and received an awesome ribbon. She did her best and had a great time skiing. We are so very proud of our little Beanie Baby and all of Team USA. After she received her award she went to her teammates to congratulate them all with one of her famous hugs.
 
Heather and her co-workers closed the store they work at to come cheer Jenna on. That was totally cool that they would do that since they haven't even gotten to meet her yet. We have also met this great family; they have a son named Shane. He competes in the same events as Jenna does and they have become really close. We are making friends that we are going to keep in close contact after this is over with. We wish this would never end it is so amazing being around everyone. 

Tomorrow is her final for the 1K race at 12:30 (our time). Please think of her at about 2:30 your time. 

Feb. 11, 2009

JENNA WON THE GOLD FOR HER 1K RACE TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello everyone. Well, today was the best day ever. Jenna had her 1K race today and when we arrived at the venue she was cheering on her fellow teammates that were doing their 3K race. Then she and the rest of Team USA went to warm up for their 1K race. She was very calm and ready for her race. We learned that she could have some really tough competition. She would be racing against women from Greece, France, Italy, Luxembourg and she was the only USA in this heat. When she was at Copper Mountain, she had a time of 25.36, in Weston she had a time of 14.25, in time trails in Sun Valley she had a time of 10.30. Well today her time was 9.15! 

She finished almost a whole minute ahead of the second-place skier. All the practicing and all the thoughts and prayers that were sent to her have most definitely paid off. SHE IS A GOLD MEDALIST IN THE 1K FOR THE WORLD WINTER SPECIAL OLYPMICS GAME OF 2009.
 
We are so very proud of Jenna Bean and the whole TEAM USA. These athletes are totally awesome and they give their all in everything that they do. Jenna has made numerous new friends as have Susanna and I. One of these fine ladies that we had met on Tuesday had the day off today and came out to cheer for Jenna as she won her gold medal. Diana was on the phone with Heather, who had to work, to keep her updated on Jenna and how she did the day as she won the gold. The people out here are so very nice. 

Thank you all again for all your thoughts and support for Jenna Bean and us.

Feb. 12, 2009 

Well today was the last day of competition. Jenna had the day off, but was there to cheer for Team USA relay teams.  A lot of her very close friends were part of this event. Team USA did very well in all the relay events. Her very special friend Shane was on Team USA 7 and his team came in for the silver.
 

Susanna, left, and Maggie find a friend.

We got to take her to dinner but she was feeling a little bit under the weather from the whole week of being on the go. Tomorrow they have to get up at 5 a.m. to go to breakfast then they have to get on the bus to head back to Boise for some other events before attending closing ceremonies. They are staying in Boise tomorrow night then Saturday they are on the road to Salt Lake City. Jenna flies home on Sunday morning. We are meeting her at Logan for 3:30.  Susanna and I are flying out on Saturday and we will be landing in Hartford at 10:17 p.m. This week has flown by and it is very sad to have to leave all the great people we have met while being here. We have exchange addresses and emails and will keep in touch with our new friends.   

We have to finish packing tonight. See you all soon.

Feb. 13, 2009

Well today is a bittersweet day; it is the closing ceremonies for the World Games. It is going to really hard to say goodbye to everyone. But they say we never say goodbye it is see you soon, which we hope it will be someday. The closing ceremonies were very emotional; they recapped events of the week and showed highlights from all the events.  There was a lot of music and lots of dancing amongst the athletes. 

It was very nice and when the torch went out, it brought tears to your eyes knowing that the games had come to a close. We did found out that the 2011 Summer Games are going to be held in Athens, Greece. Not sure if we are going to try to get to those or not. I would like to end our little travel log with a banner quote that was hung in the Boise airport — "The Most Inspiring Athletes Don't Get Signing Bonuses."
 
From Maggie Montgomery, Jenna Montgomery (Gold Medalist 1K) and Susanna Thomas

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