Day 5 - Wednesday, June 8
Wednesday was a big day for powerlifting! Darius, Austin and Dan all competed. They worked hard and have plenty of medals to bring home to Minnesota!

Austin had some very big lifts. 633 lb. deadlift, 524 lb. squat, 347 lb. bench – He’s taking home four gold medals! 
Our half court basketball team won GOLD! And they did it all for their missing piece, Michelle #5. ❤

Fans in the bleachers were announcing the game live to friends and family back home. And the team got to celebrate their victory with Michelle via video chat!

This game will go down in history as the first gold medal to be given to a 3v3 half court team at USA Games! 
“Even though we’re not in the same place, Michelle has been our biggest encourager, our biggest cheerleader. That’s how teamwork works, you support your teammates from wherever you are.”
– Coach Aimee Libby
More day 5 highlights:

  • Unified Softball visited Magic Kingdom! They had a blast going on rides and soaking in all that Disney has to offer.

  • Happy birthday to Unified partner, Darrel! It was a very special birthday on the golf course with his partner, Erik.

  • Also on the golf course, there was one very suspicious spectator…an alligator!

  • Gymnastics had another great day. They added a few more medals to the collection and they’re back at it on Thursday.

  • Unified softball won over Team Indiana in the morning morning and will be in the top division in medal rounds starting Thursday. They’re excited to play the #1 seed, Oklahoma, who they competed against on Monday.

  • Swimming continues to rack up the medals in some of the most competitive divisions at the games. They’re having a blast at the pool!

  • Team Minnesota’s lone equestrian participant, Emily, took home a bronze medal for her events today! She will be competing again on Friday.

  • Track and bocce continue to rock their events and stack up the awards!
  • It’s not a rare occurrence to see someone break into song and dance here at USA Games. Tonight we got a performance of “Let it Go” from Frozen at the dining hall by athletes from various states!


  • Today at the Unified college basketball game, there was a beautiful UCS to USA Games full circle moment. Will Larson (Minnesota) competed against two of his Orono High School classmates Kyle and Thomas (Texas) at USA Games! All three attended Orono and were involved with Special Olympics in High School. Will attends University of Minnesota and Kyle and Thomas attend Texas Christian University. Lots of Orono fans were in attendance and they all gathered for a group picture after the game.

  • On Thursday, all of Team Minnesota gets to go to Animal Kingdom for the evening! We can’t wait!
Thank you to our amazing sponsors!