Bio: Meurett, Steve - Heading to Summer Special Olympics (2023)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Meurett, Workman

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 2/08/2023

Meurett, Steven-Heading to Summer Special Olympics (2023)

Neillsville Native Heading to Summer Special Olympics

By Edward DuBois

Steven Meurett was tending the grounds of Levis Mound when he paused to say a few words about his participation in the upcoming summer Special Olympic Games for June, later this year.

Meurett first began participating in the Special Olympics in 1985 or ’86, starting off as a coach.

“My good friend […] is a Special Education teacher,” Meurett said, “and he kinda roped me into helping him out with track and cross country skiing and snowshoeing and going on trips as a chaperone.”

The first World Games Meurett applied for was 1999, for the pre-World Games in Anchorage, AL, the World Games following in 2000, which was his first time going to the games as a coach.

Meurett has also been to games in Japan in 2005, Idaho in 2007, Greece for summer games for track.

Meurett has coached track in high school for 28 years, making him quite qualified for the position and comfortable doing so, and also has a cross country skiing background.

He will be coaching Chelsea Workman, a track and field athlete from Rise Lake, who is going to the Special Olympic games for her first time. However, it will also likely be her last, due to rules and regulations of the games.

“It’s not common for athletes to go to more than one,” Meurett said. “States select the athletes from their state, coaches are selected nationally.”

However, the restriction have little to do with ability, like in the case of the normal Olympic Games, where an athlete can compete as long as they can make the cut and do not injure themselves.

In the Special Olympics, due to rules promoting inclusivity, and with the number of athletes wanting to compete versus the number of years the games are held, it is unlikely an athlete like Workman will be chosen again.

It might truly be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her.

However, states can send athletes to national games held every four years (alternating winter and summer every two years), which is much more affordable, so states send more competitors to national games.

“This will be my 10th World Games,” Meurett said, as he listed other games he had been to, like Abu Dhabi.

Meurett said the Special Olympics has allowed him to travel quite a bit, though not see nearly as much, as his focus was purely on his athletes and the games ahead.

“I usually see the track and hotel,” Meurett said.

Still, he had no complaints, and said it was a fantastic opportunity. He said he had fallen in love with the World Games’ atmosphere, hence why he kept applying.

Meeting athletes and coaches from other counties are what stand out the most for Meurett, since there will be 175 counties represented at the summer games.

“You meet a lot,” Meurett said, “and some I meet multiple times, so you kinda stay connected with them.

“And I think, also, seeing different cultures, too. Abu Dhabi and Dubai, I had no idea what that was going to be like. And Japan and Korea were very different cultures from what we have.”

The USA team for the Special Olympics has four coaches and 16 athletes for track alone and had a 2-and-a-half training camp in San Antonio, TX back in November 2022.

“What I like to see,” Meurett said, “is how you get all these people that never met each other before, and they get into a team in a day-and-a-half or so. And now we won’t see them until June, but I know what will happen: all the athletes on our team will get back together like it was yesterday.”

A goal Meurett said he wanted to see was improvement. He mentioned a Hawaiian athlete who normally does walking events, but since there are no slots for that spot available, she is training to run 100 meters.

“I’ll take a look at what they did at camp and take a look at what they do at the World Games,” Meurett said, “and hopefully there is some big improvement.”

Meurett touched on the need for the athletes to do their very best at the games.

“It’s about having a good experience,” Meurett added. “Because they’ll probably never get a chance again. It’s our goal as coaches to make sure that happens.”

Meurett’s role as the head coach is a rather hands-off one, and he oversees the training of athletes while delegating the rest to other coaches he oversees to get the competitors ready.

The coaches nominate the athletes for the games, and personally make sure the individual is ready in time.

“My busiest thing right now is all the behind-the-scenes paperwork: spreadsheets, getting things entered in correctly,” Meurett said, “so when we get to Germany, [athletes] are in the events they’re supposed to be in.”

He commented he likes doing the organizing for the team.

The USA Special Olympics team will travel to Bremen, Germany for pre-game sightseeing and socializing before going to Berlin for the summer games June 10.