“Oh my gosh! I’m gonna be Team USA!”
Joshua Myers’ reaction to reading his acceptance letter into the Special Olympics World Games Abu Dhabi 2019 was priceless. A York County native, Myers was one of two South Carolinians to be selected to participate in the games for Team USA, along with 213 other athletes. Winthrop was fortunate enough to welcome Myers onto campus on Wednesday, Oct. 30, to share his amazing story to the practically full theater of students and faculty in attendance at Dina’s Place for the cultural event, “World Gold Medalist in Special Olympics.”
Being diagnosed with autism at a young age, Myers used to not like talking to people at all because he was shy and nervous. Myers laughs as he recalls himself at a young age thinking, “What are these people doing to me?”
His mom being a special education teacher, she made connections to involve him in official sporting events, and “the rest is history.”
Myers began powerlifting around seventeen years old, soon after high school.
“I think squatting is my favorite. My record right now for squatting is 512 pounds. But my least favorite is benching because I have long arms,” Myers said.
While lifting, Myers puts his “game face on” to focus and makes sure to keep his head down so he can avoid stumbling around with the heavy weights.
Besides powerlifting, Myers has also competed in soccer, basketball, bocce, bowling, track and field and swimming. Although the Special Olympics has a winter sports division, he has never competed in those.
“I’m just too big for a snowboard,” Myers said.
He is now the second most overall powerlifter in the world for his weight division. In the 2019 Special Olympics, Myers competed in his weight class in powerlifting, bringing home the gold in Squat, the bronze in Bench Press, the bronze in Deadlift and the silver in Combined Squat, Bench Press and Deadlift.
“My all time favorite is, you can guess, powerlifting . . . When I found out I won I just felt like I won an Oscar or a Grammy,” Myers said.
Following the thrilling news of his entrance to Special Olympics, Myers attended a training camp in Delaware for eight weeks before his journey to the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi. Being a six-foot-eight man, Myers did struggle during the fourteen hour plane ride, but was luckily able to “walk around in the plane [to] stretch [his] legs.”
Accompanied by his mom, his two head coaches and the seven other US powerlifters — who are now his best friends — Myers witnessed a new culture outside of South Carolina. The 2019 Special Olympics were the largest world games in the history of the Special Olympics, as well as the first world games to be held in the Middle East. At the cultural event on Oct. 30, Myers noted the differences in lifestyle, such as how people in Abu Dhabi do not eat meat and they do not show any affection or kissing in public. Nevertheless, Myers discusses how the people were incredibly welcoming and kind and how there was even a Papa John’s Pizza at a marketplace in Abu Dhabi.
“No I’m serious,” Myers said, as if the Winthrop students and others in attendance at the event did not believe him. Myers told that he tried the pizza from another country, and noticed how he “couldn’t taste the difference between a regular pepperoni and a chicken pepperoni.”
When game time finally arrived, Myers says he was in awe.
“The opening ceremony was unbelievable . . . they had these airplanes with different colors . . . we walk onto the big stage when team USA was announced . . . it was unforgettable,” Myers said.
There were over 7,000 athletes in attendance at the 2019 Special Olympics World Games, representing more than 190 countries, including Canada, Japan and India.
“It was an awesome experience,” Myers said.
On a more serious note, Myers explained at the cultural event the facts of autism and provided his own knowledge on the subject. According to studies, 1 in 59 children will be diagnosed with some form of autism, which is a bio-neurological developmental disability that generally appears before the age of three. Austistic people typically have difficulties with verbal and non-verbal interactions and social situations. Myers explained how he used to be severely autistic and would have numerous tantrums, but he eventually “out matured it.”
Although nearly two-thirds of children with autism are bullied, Myers claims he does not “have any problem with that cause [he is] so tall.” However, Myers encourages everyone to know how to properly interact with someone who has autism in order to make them feel safe.
“You need to ask them if it is okay to touch [them] because if you try to touch them they go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. If they say yes, you get a gree,n light, if not it’s red light,” Myers said.
One choked up audience member spoke up during the question portion of the event.
“This isn’t really a question, but I’m high functioning autistic and I just wanted to say it’s really inspirational to talk about this.” the audience member said.
The audience’s claps echoed through the theater at this statement.
“Aw thank you buddy. Thank you so much. No problem bud, thank you for having me,” Myers said in response to the audience member’s comment.
Continuing to share his knowledge, Myers told the audience of the proper nutrition care he takes while training.
“You shouldn’t drink any carbonated drinks or anything like that sugary stuff, like tea, sodas, because that’s not good for you when you’re training. Water [and] gatorade, that’s good,” Myers said.
He also reminded people to eat their fruits and vegetables, as well as lots of protein like meat and peanut butter.
As a child, Myers did not like swimming because he was afraid of putting his head under water, as young children occasionally are.
“I was scared of the water because I didn’t want to drown or something like that,” Myers said.
With much practice and help from Special Olympics, Myers was able to overcome his fear and not only compete in swimming, but become a certified lifeguard at the Rock Hill Aquatics Center.
Working as a lifeguard is only one of three jobs that Myers holds. He is a part-time employee for MaxAbilities of York County where he scans file documents, such as payroll, for the York County people with disabilities and special needs. Thirdly, Myers works twice a week at the Walgreens just across the street from Winthrop. As a customer service associate and stocker he is just “trying to help customers as much as possible.”
In his free time, which is limited from three jobs and his exercising, Myers likes to play video games and all types of retrogaming. He also likes to “hang out with [his] beautiful girlfriend Marissa.” Just last weekend Myers and Marissa competed in a Unified soccer match, a mix of autistic and non-autistic players, on Team Storm where they won the silver.
As for competing in the Special Olympics again, whether it be the 2022 USA Games in Orlando, Florida, or the 2023 World Games in Berlin, Germany, “Well let’s just say God has a plan for me,” Myers said.
Photo: Olivia Esselman/ The Johnsonian
