Two Louisville Skiers Named to Special Olympics USA Team

Louisville skiers Kelly McCormick and Ricky Oney have been named to Team USA for the 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games, which will be held January 26-February 6, 2013, in Pyeongchang, South Korea. It will be the second trip to the World Winter Games for both, and for Oney an impressive fifth World Games experience overall.

It is the second straight World Winter Games for McCormick, 30. She won a Silver Medal and two Bronze Medals at the 2009 World Winter Games in Boise, Idaho. McCormick was also a part of the 2010 Team Kentucky softball team that placed fourth at the 2010 Special Olympics USA National Games in Lincoln, Neb. She has been a Special Olympics athlete for 21 years, competing with the Pitt Academy program in Louisville. In addition to skiing and softball, McCormick competes in basketball, bowling, flag football, golf, soccer, swimming and track and field. She works at Meijer.

Oney, 46, returns to the World Winter Games for the first time since the 1985 Games in Park City, Utah. He went on to compete in the marathon at the 1995, 1999 and 2003 World Summer Games, placing fourth at the 2003 Games in Ireland. Oney has been a Special Olympics athlete for 35 years, competing in bowling as well as skiing and track and field. Like McCormick, he also works at Meijer.

The 2013 World Winter Games mark the 10th World Winter Games in Special Olympics history and the third to be held outside the North America (1993-Salzburg and Schladming, Austria, 2005-Nagano, Japan). The Games will bring together thousands of athletes from more than 120 countries to compete in seven sports in Pyeongchang.

For more information about the 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games or about how you can support the two Kentucky athletes who will be competing as part of Team USA, contact Trish Mazzoni, Special Olympics Kentucky President/CEO, at 502-695-8222 or [email protected].