July 20th, 2025, 4pm MDT
After the “Exceptional Olympics” event in November 2024, many young women and young women in Corvalis Oregon stocks of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have formed lasting friendships with others in the community.
As with the Olympic and Paralympic games held every two years, the exceptional Olympics included opening and closing ceremonies, competitive events and gold medals.
However, unlike other Olympics, these games were aimed at people with disabilities. Each game can be changed to accommodate the individual abilities of its competitors. He also cheered on young men and young women volunteers, helping athletes compete at the level they could.
The stake invited seniors and older people from high school in communities with disabilities to participate.
Karoline Teerlink, 16, of Withham Hill Oregon Ward, enjoyed supporting the event, especially as one of his friends who had Down syndrome attended as a competitor.
“It’s like the Bible that when you’re in the service of another person, you’re in the service of God. I really felt that,” Caroline said, referring to Moscha 2:17. “It really helped me to show and share Christ’s love for these people. And just have fun.”
Her favorite part of the event came at the end of the night when all the young people and contestants danced. And now, for this event, she said she had a disability and had better friendships with some people at her school that she had never known before.
“It may be scary to do this, or you may not know what to do, but I just invite people. It’s so much fun and I think it’s a great opportunity,” she said.
Nikki King, the young female president of the stake, said it was a youth-led event. Young men and young women came up with various competitive events and led the night.
The event will include putting together a large floor puzzle, lace wrapping mummy-like athletes with rolls of toilet paper, throwing Frisbees into a large trash can and racing the cultural halls of the meeting hall with a spoonful of candy to fill the bowl.
Young people prepared their activities and supported and supported their competitors at each event.
“It was great because they stepped up and led,” King said. “And the young people were as much fun as the guests we invited.”
After each event, competitors were able to take the podium to show off their gold medals. Young men and young women also cheered on their new friends as they celebrated their personal victory. King said there was a special spirit during the event as the young people took the initiative.
“By the end of the night, they all had embraced each other, knowing each other’s names and who they were,” she said. “Our young people are their biggest cheerleaders and it was really cool.”
King said another highlight of the entire event was giving families of individuals with disabilities the opportunity to connect with each other.
