Brooklyn Park’s Special Olympics athlete returns home with gold

Weather delays and travel issues couldn’t dampen Tiffany Carey’s smile hugged her twin sister, Christine, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Wednesday.

Carey had just returned from Germany, where shed represented the USA Special Olympics World Games.

“I just fulfilled my dream,” Carey said at her Brooklyn Park home on Thursday. “For thirty-two years I have wanted to go to the World Cup.”

The 49-year-old gymnast earned a gold medal in the all-around competition.

“My dream was to get one gold and take it home,” he said.

Carey did more. He also earned one silver and two bronze.

Tiffany Carey poses with the four medals she earned at the Special Olympics World Games earlier this month in Germany.

Brooklyn Park Special Olympic athlete’s ‘phenomenal’ world games

The trip was the culmination of years of work representing Minnesota at the national level and awaiting an invitation to go to the World Games held every four years.

“My dream was to walk into the world premiere, just to see everything around,” he said. “It was phenomenal.”

Her mother Mary said Tiffany had worked so hard to qualify for the World Olympics.

“Every year, wait. Every four years, break away thinking ‘Maybe this time.'” said Mary. “She kept her head up. He worked hard, he never gave up. He never gave up on his dream.”

Tiffany and her parents got to travel around Germany to see different tourist destinations and meet families from all over the world.

“I met people from Lithuania, Canada, Germany and Slovakia. It was so much fun, Tiffany Carey said.

– I went to watch judo and table tennis, basketball and weightlifting. Everyone gives it their all,” Mary said. “There’s no smile like an athlete playing a game.”

The USA Gymnastics team exchanged phone numbers to keep in touch, and Carey said she already plans to represent her country at the next World Games in Minnesota in 2026.

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