Islamabad: Serena Hotels under the banner of Sports Diplomacy, honoured the Pakistani squad that represented and made history with their spectacular wins for the country at the Special Olympics held in Berlin, Germany, from June 17th to 25th, 2023. These exceptional athletes secured 80 medals, including 11 gold, 29 silver, and 40 bronze medals in total. This achievement has brought pride to Pakistan and garnered admiration from all 176 participating countries.
The Head of the Delegation and Chairperson of Special Olympics Pakistan, Ms. Ronak Lakhani, expressed her gratitude to Allah and praised the outstanding performance of the athletes. She appreciated the hard work put into preparing for this auspicious event, saying how it had paid off in such a massive scale of wins. She mentioned the efforts of unified partners and coaches and how they played a pivotal role. Lakhani also acknowledged the parents for their support in nurturing the athletes and thanked Serena Hotels for making the evening all about the special athletes and celebrating their win as it adds support and bolsters their self-confidence.
Mr. Haseeb Abbasi, the Sargent Shriver International Global Messenger (SSIGM) Athlete Leader 2019-2023 Special Olympics Pakistan and eminent motivational speaker, and winner of 2 gold medals for cycling in the 2013 Special Olympics Asia Pacific Regional games, at age 17 appeared in a TEDx Talk wowed the world through his story and is now a motivational speaker with a web channel which he uses for motivational messages for people with special abilities spoke about his journey and that of the winners of the 2023 Olympics.