First Lady Cándida Montilla will head the Dominican sports delegation to the Special Olympics World Games that will take place in Abu Dhabi. The games will take place 8-22 March 2019. Elba Nicasio will be the chief of the 21-athlete strong Dominican team. The team will be accompanied by a support staff of 15. Dominicans will compete in athletics, bowling, open water swimming, swimming, rhythmic gymnastics, tennis, triathlon, and beach volleyball. Bowlers Anthony Hidalgo and Genesis Graciano were named the flag-bearers for the team.
The first lady has been a champion for persons with disabilities in the country. From early in the first government of her husband President Danilo Medina, Montilla spearheaded the Centro de Atención Integral para la Discapacidad (CAID) model program that is the leading educational center for persons with special needs.
In the 2015 Special Olympics World Games that took place in 2015 in Los Angeles, California, USA, the Dominican Republic won three gold, three silver and three bronze in open waters, athletics, swimming, softball and triathlon competitions. Winners that year included Alejandro Batlle (triathlon), Juan Cortorreal and Reina Astrid Curiel in open waters, Daniel Fortuna in swimming.
Anthony Hidalgo is a bronze medal winner from the III Latin American Games that took place in Panama in 2017.
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Abu Dhabi
El Nacional
4 March 2019