Kentucky Athletes, Coach Ready for World Games!
Abu Dhabi is the next stop for Cornett, Dockins and Fehrenbach
The next stop for Kentucky gymnasts Tonya Cornett and Lee Dockins and coach Mary Fehrenbach on their journey to the 2019 World Summer Games is Abu Dhabi!! Ok, there is one in between as the group will fly out of Louisville on March 6 and meet the rest of the Special Olympics USA team in Newark, N.J., before making the jump to Abu Dhabi, but it’s getting closer!
Cornett will compete in artistic gymnastics and Dockins will take part in the rhythmic gymnastics competition while Fehrenbach serves as the head gymnastics coach for Special Olympics USA.
Once in Abu Dhabi, the Special Olympics USA team will head to a Host Town to spend time acclimating to the area, learning about the culture and preparing to compete. The USA Host Town has yet to be determined, but athletes from all over the world will be in all seven of the United Arab Emirates in what will be the largest cultural exchange program ever in the Middle East.
Whatever the Host Town, Cornett, Dockins, Fehrenbach and the rest of the the Special Olympics USA team will return to Abu Dhabi for the Opening Ceremonies on March 14, before the Games get underway the next day. The Games run through March 21 and all three Kentuckians are scheduled to return to Louisville on March 23.
The 2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games will be held March 14-21, 2019, in Abu Dhabi. It will be the first time the World Games have been held in the Middle East. The Games are expected to bring together more than 7,000 athletes from 170 countries to compete. This will be the fourth time that the World Summer Games have been held outside the United States. The others were in 2003 in Dublin, Ireland; 2007 in Shanghai, China and 2011 in Athens, Greece.
For more information about the World Summer Games, or how you can support the Kentucky effort, please contact President/CEO Trish Mazzoni at 502-605-8222 or [email protected].