TEA family member win top honors at special olympics - Christina Burnett, daughter of Transportation Engineering Agency specialist Pat Burnett, wins gold medal - Brief Article

Translog: Journal of Military Transportation Management, May-June, 2001

As the Special Olympics speed skaters entered the final lap of the 500-meter competition, Pat Burnett started in disbelief.

Her daughter, Christina, 22, was in the lead.

Seconds later, Christina came in first across the finish line at 1:42.94: A gold medal winner!

"I could not believe it," said Burnett, a logistics specialist at MTMC's Transportation Engineering Agency, Newport News, Va.

"Christina was beaming; I was shaking."

The first-place finish was the climax to an amazing adventure Burnett, her husband, Mitch, and their daughter had taken to Alaska. Christina was one of six members of Team Virginia competing in the Special Olympics World Winter Games, Anchorage.

"I was happy and shocked at the same time" said Burnett. "I had mixed emotions when I found out Christina had been selected to go to World Games."

The trip to Alaska was a great odyssey for the Burnetts--the first time any of them had been to Alaska. They marveled at the picturesque snow-covered mountains and the snug port city of Anchorage.

"Christina enjoyed the fact that it snowed many of the days we were there," said Burnett.

The 500-meter race was not the only success Christina achieved.

She placed second in the 777-meter competition and fifth in the 333-meter competition.

The Burnetts were among 3,000 Special Olympics athletes, coaches and family members from 80 countries who attended from March 4 to 11.

"I never wanted to leave there," said Christina. "I liked meeting all the people from different countries. I really had fun."

A highlight for Burnett came one day when Eunice Shriver, the founder of the Special Olympics, visited the speed-skating rink.

"I had a chance to talk to her and thanked her for founding the organization and developing the concept of the Special Olympics."

Shriver is the fifth of nine children of Joseph P. and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. She took over the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., Foundation in 1957, named in honor of the family's eldest son, Joseph, who was killed in World War II. Special Olympics, created in 1967, is an outgrowth of that organization.

The opening and closing ceremonies of the Special Olympics were quite spectacular, said Burnett.

In the opening ceremony, guest stars included Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"For me, it was a moment in time," said Burnett. "All the kids were just ecstatic about seeing Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Transportation Engineering Agency employees supported the Burnetts with both departure and return receptions.

"I am really most thankful to all my co-workers for including Christina in the Transportation Engineering Agency Family," said Burnett.

Laive Poska, National Director, Special Olympics Estonia, said the competition "makes everyone involved a better person."

Burnett agrees with that.

"The kids' enthusiasm really rubs off on you--you know the kids are doing the best they can and giving 110 percent," said Burnett. "As long as they do their best, that's the important thing."

Is there another competition in the offing?

Christina is ready to go. The next summer Special Olympics competition is in Ireland in 2003. The next winter competition will be in Japan in 2004.