Mullingar woman will be flying the flag at Special Olympics European Games

The Special Olympics European Games take place in Warsaw, from 18-24 September and flying the flag for Mullingar will be Ruth Geerah.Ruth, from College Hill, will compete in the Badminton section against some stiff competition from participants from 58 other countries.In total, Ireland will be represented by a team of 34 athletes who will take part in five different sports, including athletics, badminton, bowling, football and table tennis.Ruth, who can be described as something of an all-rounder in sport, has been a member of Mullingar Shooting Stars Special Olympics Club since it was founded in 1978 and has participated in the National Games no less than three times in basketball, boccia and badminton.Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner this week, Bernie Corroon of Mullingar Shooting Stars said Ruth has been training hard all summer in the run-up to the Games:“This is a brilliant achievement by Ruth and we’re all very much behind her. She’s been working really hard with her coaching team at Mullingar Tennis and Badminton Club and she’s come on even more in the past couple of months, we’re delighted for her.”The 2010 Special Olympics European Summer Games will be the largest event for the Special Olympics movement in Europe/Eurasia in 2010 with 1,600 athletes competing.To follow Ruth and Team Ireland’s participation at the 2010 Special Olympics European Games please visit www.specialolympics.ie