Shilts To Compete In X Games In Aspen On Thursday
Tuesday, January 23rd, 2018 -- 10:15 AM
As one of only eight Special Olympics athletes, Special Olympics Wisconsin’s own Daina Shilts of Neillsville was chosen to participate in Special Olympics Unified Snowboarding Races as part of this year’s X Games in Aspen, Colorado on Thursday afternoon.When X Games Aspen returns to celebrate its 17th year in Aspen Snowmass, Colo., this Thursday thru Sunday, the winter action sports and youth lifestyle festival will descend upon Buttermilk Mountain and showcase the talents of more than 200 world-class athletes from around the globe. X Games Aspen 2018 ??" with live coverage on ESPN and ABC and an extensive array of content across digital platforms ??" is also presenting a Special Olympics Unified Snowboarding dual slalom competition on Thursday. Each team will consist of one Special Olympics athlete and one X Games athlete participating in the dual giant slalom race on Buttermilk Mountain. Each of the team members will take one run on each of the two competition courses, with the professional athletes racing against one another and the Special Olympics athletes racing one another. The combined best times of each team will determine the results.
The event will be streamed live on the ESPN3 with additional highlights incorporated into the X Games Aspen coverage on ESPN and ABC throughout the weekend.
Shilts, of Neillsville, has been a Special Olympics Wisconsin athlete for nearly 20 years. In the last few years, she has skyrocketed to elite snowboarder status. She took three gold medals home from the World Winter Games in Austria. This added to her growing collection that includes three medals from the 2013 World Winter Games in South Korea. As a result of her athletic achievements and tireless work toward promoting inclusion, she was invited to be on stage at the ESPY’s in July with seven other Special Olympics athletes and Michelle Obama as Special Olympics Chairman Tim Shriver accepted the Arthur Ashe Courage Award on behalf of his late mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who started the Special Olympics movement 50 years ago. Shilts also received an honorary ESPY from that experience. She has competed in the X Games Unified Snowboarding since it began in 2015 and has medaled each year.
Shilts’ partner, X Games and Olympic Snowboard SuperPipe gold medalist and Special Olympics Global Ambassador Hannah Teter, helped bring the Special Olympics Unified Snowboarding Races to X Games four years ago as an official part of the X Games lineup. The Special Olympics Unified Snowboarding races combine athletes ??" with and without intellectual disabilities ??" as teammates to showcase the power of Special Olympics’ Unified Sports®, which helps unite communities and foster an environment of acceptance and inclusion.
GOOD LUCK DAINA!!
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