Alaskan Special Olympians return home victorious
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Two of Alaska’s own Special Olympics athletes landed in Anchorage Monday with the added weight of a few new medals.
Sulynnette Vega Ledesma and Nathaniel Hunt touched down at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport after the long flight back from the Special Olympic World Winter Games in Turin, Italy.
The two carried a combined five medals with them, both of them winning a gold medal.
“It’s awesome,” Hunt said upon arrival. “I just like competing, but mostly having fun competing against other countries.”
Hunt won a gold medal in intermediate giant slalom skiing and a silver in intermediate slalom.
Ledesma, a snowboarder, won a gold medal in advanced Super G, and a bronze in both advanced giant slalom and advanced slalom.
“There was a lot of athletes who were very competitive as well as me,” Ledesma said. “They wanted to get all gold medals as well as I did, but I kept my mindset.”
Ledesma and Hunt were also joined on the trip by fellow athlete Teagan Lockwood, who took home bronze in intermediate slalom. Lockwood did not return to Anchorage on Monday as she is spending time in Italy with her family.
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