Special Olympics Vermont’s team trip last week to Minneapolis for the USA Games was in some ways a tale of numbers and medals.
More than 30 Vermont athletes, coaches and volunteers traveled to the University of Minnesota to join about 3,000 competitors, 1,500 coaches, more than 10,000 volunteers and 75,000 fans from all 50 states.
“I came into these games without any expectations,” said Kevin Conger, of Williston, who played on the Unified basketball team, which combines people with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team, at Champlain Valley Union High School. He entered the USA Games in the track division.
“I couldn’t have been more happy … to have the opportunity and be surprised and know that I achieved gold and silver,” he said. “Who could ask for anything better?”
Six Vermont coaches worked with 20 athletes, ranging in ages from 16 to 42.
The athletes, who came from across the state, won a total of 16 medals in the categories of athletics, which is generally track and field events, swimming and Unified basketball, which combines people with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team. The Unified basketball team, from Burr and Burton Academy in Manchester, won gold against Delaware 35-21 on the final day of the games, which took place June 20-26.
But several of those involved in Special Olympics Vermont said the 2026 USA Games were about much more than just numbers and medals. They were also about team spirit, beating their personal bests in their events, and having a good time.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Kelsey Conway, a spokesperson for Special Olympics Vermont. “They’ve got a lot of people back home rooting them on.”
The Vermont group raised more than $70,000 through fundraising events such as the Special Olympics Vermont Penguin Plunge and donors like Jersey Mike’s Subs to help cover the cost of everything from travel to gear and uniforms.
People with intellectual disabilities are “bullied at a significantly higher rate than others,” said Conway. “The USA Games allow them to stand on a national stage and prove they can compete.
“They have so much courage,” she said. “They are much more than their disabilities.”
Conger said he enjoyed competing against teams from across the country, adding, “I made a new friend in Kansas, which is very cool.” He said the Vermont athletes, coaches and volunteers also bonded during the USA Games.
“All of Team Vermont was very close,” he said. “Everyone was cheering on each other. Everyone wanted everyone else to do well in our delegation.”
Joe McNamara, who retired after a long career with the federal court system in Chittenden County, served as one of two track coaches for Vermont’s team. He and his wife became involved in Special Olympics when their daughter, who has Down syndrome and is now 25, was 8 years old.
“Half have kids in the program and half do it out of the goodness of their hearts,” he said of the coaches.
Lindsay Arthurs of Burlington, who just graduated from the University of Vermont with a degree in public health sciences, stood on the podium at the USA Games, her service dog River at her side, a silver medal for the 5K race hanging around her neck.
For Arthurs, the medal was important. But she said supporting her own Special Olympics Vermont teammates, as well as her counterparts from across the U.S., also mattered.
“A Michigan woman won the 5K,” she said in a phone interview two days after placing second in that race. “We raised our hands together” on the medals podium.
“I was having fun, but right before my events I was a little bit nervous,” Arthurs said. While standing at the starting gate, “I said, ‘It’s go time, it’s about to happen.’ You’re on the starting line and the adrenaline takes over and you’re just ‘Go!’ ”
Supporters came in all forms.
“He was on the podium supporting me,” she said of River. “He attended college with me. He walked with me at opening ceremonies. He was a bit of a star.”
Finn Schneider, of Middlebury, who won a gold medal in the 500-yard freestyle swimming and silver in the 200-yard medley, also brought his dog Toby to the games.
Arthurs’ parents cheered from the sidelines in Minneapolis and, because the games were broadcast by ESPN+, Arthurs also had friends and family from Michigan, Utah and Colorado watching her compete. At home in Burlington, friends from UVM, who lived with Arthurs in Mansfield Hall, cheered her from afar.
“They would have a watch party every day,” she said. “I’ve never been on ESPN before.”
Conway and McNamara agreed that winning was important, but beating their personal best time or score mattered more.
“All of them set personal bests,” McNamara said in a phone interview from Minneapolis the day the games wrapped up. “They train through the winter and the spring. It’s really sort of exciting and nerve-wracking to be here. It’s time to compete.”
He anticipated that team members would be wistful during that night’s closing ceremonies before flying home Saturday.
But, he added, “They had a ton of fun.”
