By David A. F. Sweet Hundreds of athletes with disabilities from 17 states competed at the GLASA Great Lakes Games Presented by The Hartford, which took place in Lake Forest and Lincolnshire from June 9-12.
Archery was one of the sports athletes competed in during GLASA's event.
Competitions were conducted in archery, air rifle, boccia, powerlifting, swimming, track, field and wheelchair basketball for athletes as old as 79 and as young as 6. The Hartford, along with World Champion and Para triathlete Hailey Danz, surprised five local athletes, four with custom-fit adaptive sports equipment and one winner of The Hartford’s Human Achievement award given to an athlete that inspires others as a role model.
“Adaptive sports made me who I am. I will be doing this for a long time. I don’t plan on stopping,” said Juan Diego Rodarte. He received a custom-fit racing chair from The Hartford and will be representing Team GLASA at this fall’s Bank of America Chicago Marathon.
The event is also sponsored by the Chicago Bears, Citi, Hollister, Inc., NorthShore University HealthSystem, Lou Malnati’s, PER4MAX, Salvi Media, The Fidelity Group LTD, and more. For more information, visit GLASA.org or contact the team at info@GLASA.org.