More than a race, it is the message it sends out

ATHLETICS:  Special Olympics. It's all about sharing. It's about sport. It's all about . . . shopping? "Yeah, shopping. We love shopping," says Ivory Coast's athletics coach, Carole Enokou.

"When we return we will go to Kilkenny for more shopping." It's the best tribute she can pay to her host town of Callan. No joking. These guys take their shopping seriously.

Witness Claude Tano, another coach whose son Yannick is competing for the Ivory Coast in athletics. Early yesterday he set off from base camp in Clondalkin on a walk along the M50 to B&Q at Liffey Valley to buy what he describes as "sockets" for cars. (Claude runs a garage in his home town of Abidjon.)

"I tried to cross the road when the police came and said 'You can't cross the motorway on foot'. They ask why am I in Ireland, and I show them my card," he recalls, displaying his Special Olympics pass. "If I did not have the card they take me to the police station."

Instead, the gardaí arranged a lift for him to the hardware shop, and a lift back - with a basket of supplies to add to the saws, hammers and other tools he bought on a previous shopping excursion.

By mid-morning he had rejoined the rest of the Ivory Coast squad - all decked out in Kilkenny jerseys donated by their host town - at Morton Stadium, Santry to cheer home their victorious 4 x 100 metres relay team in a scorching 1 minute 3.49 seconds. Despite searing temperatures, the four runners pulled on their GAA tops after the preliminary race. Apparently, 23 degrees is still cold in the Ivory Coast. Ireland, in contrast, was suffering in the sun. The girls came home a credible third in their 4 x 100 heat but the boys finished well down the field in their equivalent race, crossing the line a full 13 seconds behind Venezuela.

Throughout the afternoon public announcements were made for people to cover up with sun-cream and hats - and they weren't just directed at the white-skinned Irish. "I don't believe it, I come from Ghana to Ireland to get sunburnt," said one African coach. "This has never happened to me before."

As the temperatures rose, conditions no longer suited anyone, and that resulted in a revenge of sorts for the home team as Tipperary's Moira Moran flew home to pip a tiring Venezuelan in the finishing straight to claim bronze in the 400 metres division three final.

"I didn't think she'd do it," said her mother, Margaret, wiping a tear from her eye. "She was sixth in the back straight but she kept coming. She really surprised me."

Another highlight of the day was 49-year-old Loretta Claiborne's bronze medal in the 1,500 metres division four final. Now at her sixth Games, Loretta has made it the hard way, growing up in the US in a poor, single parent family, partially blind and mildly retarded. When not neglected she was teased by her peers, and it stopped her from either walking or talking until the age of four. Suddenly, however, she learnt how to run, and that gave her the confidence to do . . . well, anything.

She now speaks four languages, holds an honorary doctorate and a black belt in karate, has completed 26 marathons and retains the current women's record in her age-group for the 5,000 metres at 17 minutes. Disney could make a film of her story. Oh, actually, they have. "It's about more than a race," she declared after completing her final.

"It's the message that goes with it." Not only a message about disability but about age. "It feels good to be running against people half my age."

One looks around the Games and wonders how more many stories like Loretta's are just beginning. The Ivory Coast certainly has the makings of one.

Long-jumper Christelle Yoro Lou (17), was born with visual impairment, and a motor disability.

"Until about two years ago, all she did was stay at home and go to church. She never spoke or laughed or smiled," the team's translator Carole Finney explains.

Then, Christelle started on a Special Olympics programme. "She walks better and faster. Her speech and vision have improved, and this trip has brought her out even more. Now she's very chatty and very interactive." Christelle knows she is being talked about and giggles. Then, she laughs out loud.