Special Olympics North Dakota was represented by four athletes
at the 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games.
The Special Olympics World Winter Games returned to Austria, the host of the 1993 Special Olympics World Winter Games, and were held from March 18-24, 2017. Three-thousand athletes representing 100 nations competed in nine sports during the week-long event.
Four athletes from North Dakota were selected to represent the Special Olympics USA. Athletes included Christy Coughlin, Minot-Snowshoeing; Wade Wintermeyer, Jamestown-Snowshoeing; Dave Johs, Bismarck-Cross-Country Skiing; and Katielynn Ovitt, Bottineau-Alpine Skiing. Cindy Schopper of Valley City was an assistant Snowshoe coach, Dr. Julie Blehm was on the Special Olympics USA medical team and Kathleen Meagher, SOND President and CEO was the Family Coordinator for Special Olympics USA. Kevin Arthaud of Bismarck represented the Law Enforcement Torch Run team running in the Final Leg.
Presented below are results from the 2017 World Winter Games:
Christy Coughlin
- 2nd place - 200M Race for Snowshoeing in division F18 with a time of 01:03.66
- 2nd place - Snowshoeing 4x400M race with a time of 13:29.50 in division F1
- 1st place - Snowshoeing 400M Race with a time of 02:29.00 in division F06
Dave Johs
- 2nd place - Cross Country 1K Race Freestyle for Cross Country Skiing in division M13 with a time of 07:52.10
- 6th place - Cross Country skiing 4X1K relay freestyle in division M06 with a time of 34:13.60
- Received Maximum Effort in the Cross Country Skiing 500M Race Freestyle with a time of 03:54.60 in division M12
Katelynn Ovitt
- 2nd place - Alpine Skiing Advanced Giant Slalom in division F06 with a time of 02:01.28
- 1st place - AS Alpine Advanced Slalom with a time of 01:56.31 in division F03
Wade Wintermeyer
- 1st place - 200M Race for Snowshoeing in division M23 with a time of 00:48.60
- 2nd place - Snowshoeing 400M Race with a time of 01:49.72 in division M10.
- 3rd place - Snowshoeing 4x400M Race with a time of 07:40.40 in division M2
