DISABILITY SPORT RESEARCH INITIATIVE
Researh Fellows
WORLD TEAM SPORTS TO PARTICIPATE IN HAVANA MARATHON
Charlotte, NC, November 19, 2000 � World T.E.A.M. (The Exceptional Athlete Matters) Sports, a nonprofit organization based in Charlotte that provides greater access and opportunities in sports for all people, especially persons with disabilities, will field the first U.S. team to participate in Cuba's XI Havana Marathon (Marabana 2000).
The race will be run through the historic streets of Old Havana and along the city's beautiful beaches. Marabana 2000 includes the XI Havana Marathon, XIV Half Marathon and the XIV Mini Marathon Peace Race and is the premier event of MARACUBA 2000, an unprecedented sports festival marking Cuba's Day of Physical Sports and Culture. Approximately 5000 men and women from more than 25 countries will race through Havana as thousands of Cubans in 155 municipalities compete in simultaneous sports events all over the country.
"We have assembled an exceptional team of athletes to represent World T.E.A.M Sports in this wonderful international event. Our presence in the Havana Marathon is an example of the power of sports to bring countries and people with different political beliefs together," said WTS founder and Co-Chairman, James M. Benson.
Each year World T.E.A.M. Sports fields a team in an exciting marathon in some remote corner of the world to demonstrate the value of diverse and integrated teams. The World T.E.A.M. Sports Havana team includes novice to elite athletes, able bodied and disabled men and women ranging in age from 16 to 75 and hailing from 15 states in the U.S. including California, Colorado, New York and Washington.
Kristen Brooks will join the team from Phoenix, Arizona. She is a three-time United States National Champion in equestrian riding. Kristen, 24, teaches with the Close-Up Foundation, a civic education organization that familiarizes high school students with the US government and history.
Also traveling to Cuba is Harry Cordellos a resident of Novato, California and the national record holder for a blind runner in a marathon. Harry completed the Ironman Triathlon, was a member of the U.S. Ski Team for blind athletes, and recently received the President's Award from the World Humanitarian Sports Hall of Fame.
Joining the team from Virginia Beach is Carlos Moleda, a former member of the elite U.S. Navy SEAL Team. During the Panama Invasion of 1989, Carlos was shot in the back and became a paraplegic. In a decade, he has become one of the most accomplished disabled endurance athletes in the world, currently holding the world record in the handcycle division of the Hawaii Ironman World Championships.
Also running for World T.E.A.M. Sports is Billy Ray Quick from High Point, North Carolina. Billy is an accomplished Special Olympics cyclist and marathoner who has traveled to countries such as Tanzania in Africa, as a Special Olympics International Global Messenger. Billy Ray was the spokesperson for all the Special Olympic athletes at the 1999 Special Olympics World Summer Games.
Sarah Reinertsen of New York, New York will also compete in the marathon for World T.E.A.M. Sports. Sarah is an international sports journalist and the women's amputee marathon world record holder. She competed in the 1992 Paralympics in Barcelona, as well as numerous other athletic competitions worldwide.
Joining the team from San Francisco, California is Doug Ulman. Doug is the founder of the Ulman Cancer Fund and a cancer survivor. His Foundation is breaking new ground in providing an avenue of support for young people who are cancer survivors.
World T.E.A.M. Sports team member Erik Weihenmayer of Denver, Colorado, lost his sight at a young age, but was determined not to let his blindness get in the way of a full life. His extraordinary athletic achievements have led him to the tops of some of the world's tallest mountains. In the Spring of 2000 Erik will be the first blind man to ever attempt to climb Mt. Everest.
A former Director of Public Relations for World T.E.A.M. Sports, Scott Dvorak, will join the team from Charlotte, NC. Scott is a 1996 Olympic Trials qualifier in the 5,000 meters. He is also the 1997 winner of the Antarctica Marathon and a member of U.S. track and field national teams. Currently, Scott owns and operates the Charlotte Running Company.
World T.E.A.M. Sports Director, Diana Nyad from Los Angeles, California, will also participate. Diana is currently a senior correspondent for Fox Sports News. She is the world record holder for the longest swim in history, for both men and women, swimming 102.5 miles between the Bahamas and the Florida shore in over two days.
While in Cuba, World T.E.A.M. Sports will engage in a number of medical and educational outreach programs. Two team members from New York's Hospital for Special Surgery will conduct a sports medicine clinic for over 125 Cuban doctors, trainers, physical therapists, and coaches. Team members will visit a local school where a physical education teacher from Phoenix will present a scrapbook from his students and set up a pen-pal exchange. In a meeting with the Cuban Sports Federation for the Disabled, World T.E.A.M. Sports will present a handcycle donated by Freedom Ryder and a racing wheelchair donated by Hall's Wheels.
World T.E.A.M. Sports will also present racing apparel donated by Reebok to the Marabana organizers.
All these activities and World T.E.A.M. Sports' participation in Marabana will be covered on the internet at www.oncology.com.
World T.E.A.M. Sports, based in Charlotte, North Carolina is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization that was created seven years ago with the goal of bridging diverse communities while providing opportunities for all persons, especially those with disabilities, to become involved in lifetime sports. Teams have climbed mountains in Africa, bicycled across the Gobi Desert, run marathons in Antarctica and circumnavigated the globe by bicycle.The idea is to build one team - one that is sustained by diversity, collective grit and determination, compassion and the desire to achieve.
World T.E.A.M. Sports connects diverse communities of the world through sports.
Contact: Denise Vitola/Bret Werner Alan Taylor Communications 212-714-1280.
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