Moldovan athlete Elena Raducan will take part in the 2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games that will take place in the capital of the United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi during March 8-22 as part of the national team of Italy, IPN reports.
Elena Raducan will compete in bowling as a member of the team Sesamo Rho. The letter sent by the Special Olympics Italy to the young woman says that such an important event will culminate the athlete’s path of the last few years and will be a huge reason of pride for the whole team.
According to the organizers, the event will involve 7,000 athletes from 160 countries who will compete in 24 sports events alongside 2 500 coaches and 20,000 volunteers. The sports competitions are expected to be watched by over 500,000 spectators.
Elena Raducan is known nationwide in Italy. During the past few years, she competed in tens of sports competitions intended for persons with disabilities and won multiple trophies, medals and diplomas. The decision by the Special Olympics Italy to invite her to the World Games represents recognition of her merits and sports performance and of her impressive path. Elena Raducan was informed that all the participation costs will be covered by Special Olympics Italy, while the special equipment will be provided by her team from Rho city, namely the Association Sesamo.
Elena Raducan emigrated to Italy in 2009 at the age of 16. She lives together with her family in Rho, Milan. She was born in Chisinau on May 21, 1993. Shortly after she was born, she was taken to the intensive care section. She underwent six neurosurgical procedures. Among the 8-9 serious medical diagnoses made to her were hydrocephalus, physical-mental retardation and epilepsy. “Months of consultations, examinations and treatment followed. They ultimately advised me to leave her as she had no chance of survival. The kindergarten-school period was the hardest. No institution wanted to accept her owing to her health problems. I managed to enroll her at a kindergarten where she was accepted only because I started to work there. It was as hard at school. They sent us to special schools and all kinds of boarding schools. I insisted that she should stay in a healthy environment so that she didn’t regress in development,” said Elena Raducan’s mother Maia Turcanu.
The case of Elena Raducan as a professional athlete with Moldovan nationality is not the only one of the kind in Italy. Marathoner Constantin Bostan serves in the same town Rho situated near the Italian metropolitan city of Milan, while Moldovan deaf-mute athlete Vitalie Spinu has practiced professional sports for many years as part of the team Parma Box of Parma town.
Ecaterina Deleu, for IPN
