EDITORIAL: Four Nevadans set to compete in Special Olympics World Games

In this day and age, there is no shortage of issues on which everybody is forced to take sides. So it's quite refreshing when a positive story comes along that all Nevadans can get behind. Better yet, when four positive stories come along.

This evening at the Los Angeles Coliseum, the opening ceremony will be held for the 2015 Special Olympics World Games. Live on ESPN at 6 p.m., more than 7,000 athletes from 177 countries will march in the ceremony to officially launch the event — including four Nevada athletes, with two of them hailing from the Las Vegas Valley.

Bowler Ashlee Garrison from Henderson and swimmer Kyle Meservey of Las Vegas will compete in the 2015 Games, joined by bowler Arthur Bryan of Silver Springs and track athlete Brittany Conatser of Fernley. The four are part of an elite group, to be sure, among 350 members of Team USA. They were selected from a blind draw, but make no mistake, these four athletes earned their way to L.A. For swimming and track, the draw was based on results of gold medalists in the 2014 Nevada Summer Games; for bowling, it was based on results of gold medalists in regional bowling tournaments held in 2013.

Ms. Garrison, 23, is already a highly decorated Special Olympian, earning eight gold, six silver and three bronze medals in regional competition over the past five years. And her success isn't limited to Special Olympics. In her World Games athlete profile, she noted that making the bowling team at Coronado High School was the biggest challenge she'd overcome. "I had to work hard at bowling to be like the other kids on the team." Indeed, she lettered as a senior.

Mr. Meservey, 20, has a resume anybody would be proud of: five gold medals in Special Olympics in regional and state competition in just two years, homecoming king at Arbor View High School, a Best Buddies director and an Eagle Scout. He's currently in a job-training program as a childcare worker, though for the next week, he'll be hoping to emulate his favorite celebrity — swimmer Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympic athlete in history.

Mr. Bryan, 48, has been competing in Special Olympics for 20 years, and as his biggest accomplishment in sports, he cited not the thrill of victory, but rather the achievement of fitness. "Lost a lot of weight and worked hard," he said in his athlete profile. Ms. Conatser, 23, has been in Special Olympics competition for six years. When asked what advancing to the World Games means to her, she sounded like many other Olympic athletes. "A great accomplishment for hard work and a chance to represent Team USA."

How can you not get behind those storylines? Congratulations to Nevada's Special Olympics World Games delegation. And of course, good luck in Los Angeles.