Alpine Skier from London, Ont. headed to Canadian Special Olympics Winter Games
Ben So loves the thrill of going downhill.
“It’s going to be exciting and fun,” said So, a Special Olympic athlete from London, Ont.
His skis are locked and loaded and he’s ready to jet off to Calgary, Alta. next month for the Special Olympics National Games.
“I’m competing in Intermediate Alpine Skiing for Team Ontario,” said So.
The loveable 35 year old with autism spectrum disorder ski’s out of Boler Mountain in London.
“He's got a mannerism that is unique in that he loves a structure,” said Carole Metron, a Team Ontario coach who has worked with Ben for the past six years.
“That works really well when it comes to practice and dedication. So each week I ran a dryland training for all of the London athletes and Ben was there every week. He handed in his training sheet he wrote down everything he accomplished. He is dedicated to his sports,” said Metron.
Coach Carole Metron (left) and Ben So prepare to go down the hill at Boler Mountain in London, Ont. on Jan. 14, 2024. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)This will be So’s second trip to the National Special Olympics Winter Games. His first trip was twelve years ago.
“I’ve coached him since he started with our program probably 15 years ago,” said David Nyhout, who runs the Special Olympics Ski program at Boler Mountain on Monday nights.
He continued, “We attended the National games together in Edmonton in 2012. Ben is quite a character. He works hard, he comes out every week and even to every dryland training session. He's just a fun guy to work with.”
In preparation for the games, he’ll be heading to Collingwood soon to meet up with fellow provincial athletes.
“It's an on-hill training for all the skiers for Team Ontario,” said So. “We practice the turns, and going in and out of the flags.”
He met his 11 other teammates at the end of October at a dryland training camp. They got to know each other, which will help when they get to Calgary to help support one another.
Ben So (left), a skier headed to the National Special Olympics Winter Games, exited the lift at Boler Mountain with coach Carole Metron on Jan. 14, 2024. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)“Part of the on-hill training was getting together three times between now and when the games happen, which is at the end of February,” said Metron. “We are going to be on the hill at Blue Mountain to do some gate training. We will also do some bonding and just become more of a team.”
His coaches believe he has a shot to bring home some hardware.
While that may be the goal for Ben, he understands the trip is not just about finishing at the top of the podium. That is evident when he recites the Special Olympics oath.
“I remember it as, ‘Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt,’” said So.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6976926.1721883767!/httpImage/image.png_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.png)
DEVELOPING Alberta's request for federal assistance approved after fast-moving wildfire hit Jasper National Park: Trudeau
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on social media that Ottawa has approved Alberta's request for federal assistance after a fast-moving wildfire hit Jasper National Park and its townsite late Wednesday.
BREAKING Loblaw, George Weston to settle class action over bread price-fixing for $500 million
Loblaw Cos. Ltd. and its parent company George Weston Ltd. say they have agreed to pay $500-million to settle a class-action lawsuit regarding their involvement in an alleged bread price-fixing scheme.
EXCLUSIVE One address, 76 foreign currency dealers: Inside Canada's money service business 'clusters'
An IJF and CTV News investigation has found dozens of cases across Canada where multiple money services businesses (MSBs) are incorporated at the same address, sometimes without the knowledge or consent of the location's actual occupant. One money laundering expert calls it an 'abuse of the system.'
U.K. police officer suspended after video appears to show a man being kicked in head
A British police officer was suspended from all duties Thursday after a video was posted on social media that appeared to show an officer kicking and stamping on the head of a man lying on the floor of a terminal at Manchester Airport.
Barrie-Innisfil MPP 'blacked-out' and crashed car into window of child care centre
Staff at a Barrie child care centre say they are frustrated by what they call a local MPP's inadequate response after a car crashed through a window in one of the toddler rooms.
Norad intercepts Russian and Chinese bombers operating together near Alaska in apparent first
The North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad) intercepted two Russian and two Chinese bombers flying near Alaska Wednesday in what appears to be the first time the two countries have been intercepted while operating together.
Biden explains why he ended re-election bid in Oval Office address
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday delivered a solemn call to voters to defend the country's democracy as he laid out in an Oval Office address his decision to drop his bid for reelection and throw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.
Jasper mayor says alert system to be reviewed after message 'glitch'
More than 25,000 people have been displaced from Jasper National Park since wildfires started to threaten the picturesque corner of Alberta Rockies on Monday, but the mayor of its namesake municipality says not everyone received an evacuation alert when it was sent out.
Unclaimed bodies are piling up in Newfoundland. A funeral director blames the government
A funeral director in St. John's says the bodies piling up in freezers at Newfoundland and Labrador's largest hospital likely belong to people whose loved ones couldn't get enough government help to pay for a funeral.