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Quesnel Special Olympics athlete achieves personal best at Canada Summer Games

Brock Terlesky, 22, ran 100-metre dash in 12.7 seconds, beating his previous PB by a quarter of a second
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Above: 22-year-old Special Olympian Brock Terlesky. Top: Terlesky (centre) competed in the 100-metre final at the 2017 Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba on Aug. 3. He placed fifth. Photos: Melanie Law, and courtesy of Team B.C.

MELANIE LAW

Observer Reporter

Quesnel Special Olympics athlete Brock Terlesky thrived on the competition at the 2017 Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba last week.

With rival sprinters gaining ground, Terlesky shaved just over a quarter of a second off his personal 100-metre record, and a full 1.59 seconds off his personal best (PB) in the 200-metre dash.

Terlesky ran the 100-and 200-metre Special Olympic races during the track-and-field events at the biennial summer games, which invited more than 4,000 athletes and coaches to compete in Winnipeg.

In the 100-metre preliminaries on July 31 at the University of Manitoba Stadium, the 22-year-old competed in Heat 1, coming in first place with a time of 13.08 seconds.

That finish put him in Final A on Aug. 3, during which he ran the race in his personal-best time of 12.7 seconds, beating his preliminary heat time by a full second.

This stood him in sixth of eight sprinters in Final A.

Team British Columbia’s other Special Olympics sprinter, Malcolm Jovahny Borsoi, came second in the final with his time of 11.85 seconds.

In the final standings for the 100-metre race (taking into account Final A and Final B), Terlesky placed fifth of 17 athletes.

When interviewed before he left for Winnipeg, Terlesky said his record for the 100-metre dash was 12.96 seconds. His performance at the Canada Summer Games means he achieved a PB of 12.7 seconds at the event.

In the 200-metre preliminaries on Aug. 1, Terlesky came third in Heat 1 with his 25.88-second finish – his fastest time ever for the race, beating his previous personal record of 27.47 seconds.

In the finals on Aug. 4 he placed seventh, after running 200 metres at the slightly slower pace of 26.59 seconds.

Terlesky’s B.C. teammate Borsoi won gold in the 200-metre final, completing the race in 24.23 seconds.

Terlesky is the only athlete from the whole of the Cariboo to qualify for Team B.C. in any of the Winnipeg games’ 16 events.

He was joined on Team B.C. by three other Special Olympians (two female, one other male) competing in athletics.

At press time, Team B.C. stood in second place in the medals count, with 37 gold, 33 silver and 20 bronze. B.C. trails Ontario by 50 medals, and Team Quebec is hot on B.C.’s heels in third place, with 87 medals.

The track-and-field events finished Friday Aug. 4, but the 2017 Canada Summer Games continue until Aug. 13.