5 from Madurai Special School shine at Special Olympics

Madurai: Two students of Bethshan Special School in Madurai bagged the bronze medal in volleyball while three others secured fourth place in futsal (football) at the Special Olympics World Games 2023 held from June 17 to June 25 in Berlin.The five, who were among only six students from Madurai and 18 from Tamil Nadu to represent India at the Special Olympics, were felicitated by Madras high court Justice S Srimathy at an event on the school premises on Saturday. V Madhesh Babu and C Kamalesh won the bronze in volleyball. On the other hand, P Surya, A Mukesh Sundar and B Nagavel were placed fourth in futsal. Special Olympics is held once in four years exclusively for people with special needs (intellectual disabilities).Meanwhile, along with Surya, Kamalesh and Madhesh Babu, three other students of Bethshan Special School, K Madheswaran, B Muthukumar and S Rajarajan won gold in the throwball event at the recently held Chief Minister’s trophy in Chennai in the differently-abled category. R Ravikumar, principal and co-founder, Bethshan Special School, said they had to keep motivating them from a young age. He said that with better infrastructure for sports, children with special needs can achieve much more.