Guwahati, Dec. 9: Anudhriti Saikia and her mother Aradhana’s happiness knew no bounds. The 20-year-old special athlete today returned home after winning gold and silver medals at the 2013 Asia Pacific Regional Games of Special Olympics held at Newcastle in Australia last week.

A team of 10 special athletes from Assam won four gold, eight silver and four bronze medals in different categories at this international sports event. The team, along with a few officials of the Assam chapter of Special Olympics, Bharat reached the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport here early this morning.

Apart from Anudhriti, the team also included special athletes, Luish Mena, Uday Dutta, Anyatam Rajkumar, Lakshmi Kumari, Akriba Rehman, Chandan Rajbonshi, Pinky Barua, Nilotpal Dutta and Rinku Kalita.

“I am very happy to win the gold medal in bocci, a special sport for differently abled individuals. I enjoyed my stay at Australia a lot,” said Anudhriti, her bright smile belying her exhaustion after continuous travel in the past two days.

“I feel so proud of not just my daughter, but all the special athletes who have won at the international games. They may be different from normal athletes, but their performance was very good. I teach differently abled children in a special school, which my daughter attends, and I have seen how engagement in sports and other creative activities boosts the confidence of such individuals. These children are indeed special,” said Saikia, who is a teacher at Ashadeep, a special students’ school in the city.

“Since the past six years, my daughter has been taking part in various sports events organised by Special Olympics across the country. After winning at the national level, she was selected to represent the country internationally. I will definitely provide her every scope to excel in life,” said Saikia.

Achyut Mena, father of special athlete Luish Mena is equally elated at the success of his son. Thirteen-year-old Luish won a gold medal in athletics at these games.

“I am very happy at the achievement of my son at the 2013 Asia Pacific Regional Games. This means a lot as he has been working hard for it. He had been attending various coaching camps in Assam, Chennai and Hyderabad for the past three years,” he said.

“We have also seen a marked improvement in his condition after he became involved in sports. His teacher at the special school he attends also advised us to allow him to keep practising sports,” said Sabita, mother of Luish Mena.

The other two athletes who won gold medals are Lakshmi Kumari, 19, in badminton and Pinky Barua in bossi.

Jyoti Kalita, mother of 23-year-old Rinku Kalita, who played for the Indian special cricket team that won the silver medal at the games, said: “Since a tender age my son Rinku had always enjoyed playing and I informed his teacher at the special school about it. He has travelled to various parts of the country to participate in different sports events. His confidence has increased and he travels with his teammates to different places. Travelling gives him much pleasure. I am very happy at his success. I will be the happiest person if he gets to play internationally again in the future.”