Bocce Athletes Make History, Swimmers Show Their Medal(s)
Brett and his father Jeff have now competed together in two Special Olympics USA Games – this year in Minneapolis and in 2018 in Seattle, Wash., and in both of those Games, the pair has made a little bit of Special Olympics Kentucky history. In Seattle the Thompsons became the first Kentucky Unified bocce pair to win a medal of any kind at the USA Games, as they were the first Unified pair to represent the state. Today they became the first Unified bocce pair in Special Olympics Kentucky history to win gold.
The Thompsons went 2-1 in group play. They dominated both Michigan and Minnesota 11-1. Their only loss was an 8-5 match against Tennessee. But the two would face off again for the gold medal. In the first two frames, some excellent shot making helped get the Thompsons out of a couple of jams. And while Tennessee scored first, Kentucky leveled things at 1-1 in the second frame. In the third frame, a couple of great shots by Brett helped Kentucky secure three points and Brett and Jeff never looked back, cruising to the gold by a score of 11-3.
It was one of two bocce medals on the day for Team Kentucky.
The Unified pair of finished pool play in Megan and Lesley Dineen finished the morning with a 2-1 mark. They beat an Oklahoma and a Texas team convincingly, but fell to Missouri’s Charity O’Bannon and Jennie Crabbe in a hard-fought battle, 5-2. The two teams met again in the final and the competition was just as tight. The Dineens fell behind by two early but fought their way back to a 4-4 tie before the time limit forced the game to sudden death. The Missouri pair managed two points in the final frame to secure the gold while Megan and Lesley took home the silver.
Earlier in the day it was the swimmers grabbing the hardware.
Union swimmer Maddie Brinkman was the first one into the pool and claimed Team Kentucky’s first swimming medal of the 2026 Special Olympics USA Games. And it came oh so close to being a gold. Brinkman led her heat of the 100-yard backstroke with just five yards to go and appeared to have touched first, but Minnesota’s Sydney Sexton snuck in just a tenth of a second before her for the gold.
Taylorsville’s Carson Chaney claimed a medal of his own nearly immediately after Brinkman’s and in nearly the same way. Chaney briefly took a lead in the last 10 yards of the 100-yard backstroke, but couldn’t hold off Peyton Jones of New Hampshire who touched just .2 seconds ahead of Chaney. Chaney’s time of 1:27.41 was a personal best.
But it was Justin Hale of Crestwood who finally made a lead stick. He swam a dominant 50-yard butterfly to win the gold medal in his heat in a personal-best time of 32.62 seconds. He won the race by nearly two full seconds. It was Hale’s first individual gold medal at the USA Games since 2018 when he won the 100-yard freestyle in Seattle.
As expected, Kentucky gymnasts cleaned up in the individual event finals, winning a total of 13 medals.
Aliya White won four medals, including gold in the beam, bars, and vault She added a silver in the floor exercise. The medals bring her total in these Games to five and overall total to 14 in three trips to the USA Games.
Racheal Conner claimed three medals in the event finals – silver in the beam and vault and a bronze in the floor exercise. She added a fourth place ribbon in the uneven bars.
Russellville gymnast Lee Dockins added to her legendary status by closing out her 2026 Special Olympics USA Games with a clean sweep of the event finals gold medals, taking the top spot in bars, beam, vault and floor. Only the vault was within one point with Dockins holding off Alexis Winegard of Illinois by .32. The five-medal sweep brings Dockins’ USA Games career total to 25 in five appearances, meaning she has never missed winning a medal in any event in any of her appearances. It’s the second consecutive gold medal sweep for Dockins who also completed the feat at the 2023 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Berlin.
Richmond’s Shane Stull grabbed the only medal for Team Kentucky in today’s singles event. Stull rolled a 362 series to claim the bronze medal in the singles competition in a tight battle. He finished just two pins behind Abraham Cooper of Washington who won the silver.
Also at bowling, Janna Ghibaudy of Lexington placed sixth in her division of the singles competition. But her 377 series was only 23 pins behind the tie for the bronze medal between Hunter Bell of Alabama and North Dakota’s Heather Martell. Louisville’s Katy King missed out on a medal of her own also by the narrowest of margins. King finished fourth in her division of the bowling singles event today. Her 332 series was just one pin behind bronze medalist Cailynn Goss of Maine. Bowler Dillon Meador of Rockfield narrowly missed a medal in his first opportunity today in the singles event. Meador rolled a 442 series, finishing just 24 pins behind New Hampshire’s Darren Brown for the bronze medal.
Three of Kentucky’s four track and field athletes were in action today.
Murray’s Kaylen Toews saw her first competition at the Special Olympic USA Games in Minneapolis on Tuesday. Toews competed in the running long jump preliminary, jumping 2.71 meters to lead her heat by .04 meters.
Also at the track, Sydney Graf of Louisville and Miguel Mendoza of Shelbyville saw their first activity of the USA Games. Graf ran the 100-meter dash preliminary, finishing third in her heat in a time of 21.23 seconds. Mendoza also ran the 100 meters prelim, finishing third in his heat in a time of 16.40 seconds. Mendoza also took part in the shot put prelim, topping his heat with a throw of 7.57 meters.
Team Kentucky’s Louisville-based Unified basketball team got its first win of the USA Games by knocking off Colorado 28-19. Unified partner Eli Just led all scorers with 10 points. Athlete Gary Garrett scored four points and grabbed a rebound. Athlete Amos Luckett and partner Jeremy Mercer added three points each.
Weather wreaked havoc on the rest of the day’s events. A strong storm swept through Minneapolis in the afternoon causing issues for golf and flag football.
Team Kentucky’s golfers had the strangest days. Nine-hole individual stroke play participant Chris Revay of Ft. Mitchell and the Glasgow Unified pair of Troy Pickens and James Cheeley were able to finish their rounds today, but Lexington’s Wake Mullins and many others were not. With a number of golfers unable to complete today’s round, the decision was made to scrap today’s round and begin competition tomorrow.
Tomorrow at the USA Games
Many more medals will be on the table across the Minnesota campus and the National Sports Center.
The Team Kentucky 4×50-meter relay team will be going for their third consecutive USA Games gold medal tomorrow. In their preliminary heat, Team Kentucky shaved seven seconds off its previous best time and goes into the final as the top seed. Chaney swam an incredible final leg as part of that effort. Hale will also swim the 200-yard individual medley tomorrow. In addition Carmen Widener will swim her first individual prelim as well in the 100-meter breaststroke.
Ghibaudy and King and Meador and Stull will each team up to compete in the bowling doubles event on Wednesday.
Megan Dineen and Brett Thompson will both be looking for their second medal when they take part in the singles event at the bocce venue.
At the track, Damion Frost will have his first shot at gold in the running long jump. Mendoza will take part in the shot put final tomorrow as well. The team will also run their preliminary heat of the 4×100-meter relay. Among individual events, Toews and Graf will run the 200-meter preliminary. Frost will compete in the 800-meter preliminary
Unified basketball will take on Minnesota in the final game of pool play for both teams. Minnesota is 0-2 going into the game.
Flag football will be back at the National Sports Center in Blaine, Minn. They’ll take on Indiana in the semifinal round. The teams didn’t meet in pool play, but Indiana is 3-0 at the USA Games.
The golfers will all tee it up in their first official competitive rounds of the Games.
For more information about Team Kentucky or the team’s participation in the USA Games, contact Mark Buerger at 502-695-8222 or mbuerger@soky.org.