After two days of competition, the 2025 Special Olympics BC Summer Games have come to a close.
The games brought around 900 athletes to the Prince George area to compete in ten different sports on Friday and Saturday.
“With any large, large tournament like this, you’re always running with your hair straight back just to get everything ready, and we certainly managed to put everything together,” said Co-Chair of the Organizing Committee Lyn Hall.
“You always have a few things where ‘could’ve done it this way, could’ve done it better,’ but overall we are extremely pleased.”
Some rain did slow a few of the outdoor events down on Friday, but Hall said they managed to get everything done that they needed to.
“We knew that we had a timeline to meet and a schedule of sporting events and we met that,” he explained.
“If anything, we wish we would’ve had more sunshine, even when it wasn’t raining it was still reasonably warm out but overcast. It would’ve nice to have clear sky, the usual blue sky and some warmer weather, but all in all it worked out well.”
Hall said the moment from this weekend that will stand out for him was having the opportunity to meet the athletes first hand.
“That’s what I did when they came for their breakfast and lunches at CNC, I wanted to be there, and so I hung out there,” he explained.
“That was the great thing about transportation, I knew they were going to be in one location for a period of time, and I just wanted to connect with the athletes, so that was extremely rewarding for me, and seeing all the volunteers there.”
Hall added he heard from the athletes that they loved the weekend.
“Right from the time they got to the City, into their accommodations, and then transportation would go by and pick them up for meals or take them off to their sporting venues for competitions, they were so excited, they were excited to be here, they were excited to compete,” he said.
“It’s so interesting, they were so excited to see friends that they had met, some of them six or seven years ago, eight years ago, when the last games were held, because there were no games during Covid.”
Full results from the games can be found here.
Currently, the City is in the bid process for the 2030 Special Olympics National Summer Games.
Around a month ago, it was announced Prince George was put on the shortlist to host the games.
“My Co-Chair, Renee [McCloskey] and I, we’ve talked about it a lot, we sit on the bid committee,” Hall said.
“We think that we really showed how we can handle, logistically, the sport venues, all of those things, without any real hiccups. We’re pretty excited, we think we sent a really strong message to the group that’s looking at our bid.”
While speaking to reporters prior to the Opening Ceremony on Friday, Premier David Eby said he would support the bid as well.
“To have the 2030 National Special Olympics here would be a great honour for British Columbia, it’d be wonderful for the local economy here in Prince George, and it’d be great for the economy provincially,” Eby said.
“But most importantly, it’s a celebration that makes everybody feel good, lifts everybody’s spirit, and inspires so many people, so for all those reasons, I’m a very enthusiastic backer of the proposal, and look forward to seeing how the province can help out.”
A site visit for the National Games bid is scheduled to take place later this year.
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