A PAIR of Special Olympians from Bromsgrove have been congratulated by the town’s MP.
Basketball player Ben O’Brien, 22, and golfer George Brunt, 31, were paid a visit by Sajid Javid after they returned from their trans-Atlantic trip of a lifetime where they represented Team GB at the Special Olympics 2015 World Summer Games in, Los Angeles.
The pair met with Mr Javid at the Ryland Centre in Bromsgrove, where they both train, to be congratulated on their recent successes.
Ben, who has autism, and his team scooped the gold after winning every match in their division, beating Latvia, China and Italy in the process.
While George, who has Down’s Syndrome, did not manage to win a medal, he did get a sixth place ribbon and beat his personal best on three of the four courses he played on.
A total of 7,000 Special Olympics athletes from 177 countries took part in 28 different games – there were 115 athletes with intellectual disabilities attending from across England, Scotland and Wales. There were also more than 30,000 volunteers and more than 500,000 spectators.
Their trips were all funded by a £2.3million Government grant which was secured by Bromsgrove MP Sajid Javid.
Mr Javid said: “I am thrilled that Ben and George did so well in Los Angeles.
“It was an honour to meet them and hear about their experiences in training and competing.
“I know I speak on behalf of all Bromsgrove district residents when I say we are very proud of all they have achieved.”
