We’re preparing to board our flight back home and looking back at our incredible World Games journey. Thank you to everyone back home who has made this journey possible. The UAE has been a gracious host, we have made lifelong friends and we have shown the world the power of determination and inclusion.
In addition to changing the world, we have also changed ourselves. We have gained perspective, we have shattered personal bests and we have set new goals. We have made our country proud by living our team values whether we won or loss. We will return home today a little prouder, a little braver and grateful beyond measure.
In a thank you letter to her coaches, an athlete expressed what we are all feeling:
“I can’t believe this is almost all over. I came to be part of a team and am leaving feeling as if I am part of a family…
But yet here I am halfway across the world having done what some will only ever dream of, I have competed on one of the biggest stages in the world and I have because people believed in me…
I have learned so much more than I could ever learn in the walls of a school. I think now I understand what “everyone smiles in the same language” means. For I have seen so many smiles…
I choose not to say goodbye but instead until next time because I will see you again and those who love with their heart are never apart and always together by heart.”
Ma salama, World Games Abu Dhabi 2019. Rendezvous in Sweden in 2021! Until then, #BeUnified.
