Olds Special Olympics athlete Mark Mengersen is not resting on his laurels.
After winning both a silver and a bronze medal during the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Abu Dhabi last week, he's now aiming at qualifying for the next Special Olympics World Summer Games, which will be held in Berlin, Germany four years from now.
"Four years I'm going to Germany," he said during an interview with the Albertan on Sunday.
Mengersen was a member of the Canadian 10-pin bowling team. He won a silver medal in the team bowling competition, bronze in bowling doubles and placed eighth in men's singles.
The Special Olympics World Summer Games were held March 14-21 in Abu Dhabi.
Mengersen's mom, Karen, says he certainly rose to the occasion.
She said in Olds where he regularly bowls, Mark has an average of 91. In Abu Dhabi, organizers first had competitors bowl to establish an average for each, and Mengersen bowled an average of 106.
"That's the score he had to beat to do anything, so he did really well," she said.
"And I guess with their silver medal, they were just one point off the gold medal. The gold medal team had one point more than they did."
"I passed out -- after bowling," Mengersen said.
That was news to Karen.
"You passed out?" she asked.
"Yeah, it was a long day, Mengersen replied.
"I'm glad I didn't know that," Karen said with a laugh.
His other observation: "it was hot, lots."
The Bowl in Olds opened early to televise the opening ceremonies, which took place at 9 a.m. on March 14.
"Mark was right near the end, so we were sitting there (saying) 'where's Mark? Where's Mark?' And then right at the end we see him and he's dancing across the stage. That's when it became real for me because it was Mark on TV at the world Games. It was really awesome," Karen said.
He was pleased when a female member of the Swedish team gave him a big hug as they walked by.
And true to form, Mengersen met a couple of girlfriends over there — one from Quebec and one from Prince George, B.C.
Some members of the team got a chance to ride on a camel, among other activities. Mark had that opportunity too, but he didn't want to.
He also liked the entertainment, which he said included a water ride and rollercoaster ride as well as performances by fire jugglers and "dancing ladies."
Karen joked that he also flirted with a woman handing out medals.
The 14-hour flight from Dubai to Toronto, then back to Calgary was tiring.
But that wasn't the end of it. Due to fog, the plane was unable to land at about 9:20 p.m. Saturday night, as planned. It circled for a while, then diverted to Lethbridge to refuel and wait for conditions in Calgary to be safer. It finally landed after midnight. So Mengersen, and Karen, who waited for him all that time in the Calgary airport, were pretty tired on Sunday.
Mengersen received a memento of his trip, bright red bowling shoes which he showed off during the interview.
The Games featured more than 7,000 athletes from more than 190 countries.
Team Canada won 155 medals, including 90 gold, 37 silver and 28 bronze, beating expectations. Of those medals, Alberta athletes won 27: 18 gold, seven silver and two bronze.
