At the end of a dusty Rimrock street, five gold-medal winning Special Olympics athletes live and prepare together in a special-needs group home for their next competition after their wins May 7 at the Summer Games in Phoenix.
The newest Rimrock resident, Rod Baluha, 52, has won gold medals in swimming the past four years and now practices for bowling and golf after throwing a softball 26½ feet for the gold.
“It felt good,” he said. “I’ve got two more gold medals back at home.”
Baluha, a lifelong special-needs recipient, just missed another medal in the 100-meter race walk, finishing fourth in the event in 44:50.
Bobby Davis, 66, threw the softball 11.71 feet to take first in his age group.
“I came in pretty heavy on another kid,” he recalled. “It was neck-and-neck. We didn’t know who would get gold and who would get silver, so he copied me [and] I copied him. It turned out I got gold and he got second.”
Davis, who was born with developmental disabilities and was never taught how to read or write, nevertheless is looking to medal in the sport of bocce ball for the second consecutive year at the next Arizona state Special Olympics in October.
“It could go either way,” he said. “I’ve got more medals than you can count.
“I win a little, I lose a little. It doesn’t matter what place you come in, as long as you had a good time. That’s all that counts. I enjoy doing what I do for Special Olympics [for] quite a long time.”
Rimrock athletes also train for Special Olympics state events in basketball, bowling and swimming. Davis used to compete in golf but stopped after hitting someone in the groin with a drive.
For the full story, please see the Wednesday, June 17, issue of the Camp Verde Journal.
