Nolensnville’s Bethany Stineman wins gold at Special Olympics and a big welcome home

When Nolensville’s Bethany Stineman returned house previously this month from Orlando, she and her family members discovered a sweet surprise.

The community fire and law enforcement departments escorted them on their travel by the city and on to Summerlyn Drive where spouse and children, mates, neighbors and even employees of area schools lined the subdivision’s major avenue.

They cheered for Stineman’s massive victory at the 2022 Particular Olympics Usa Video games. She received not a single, but two gold medals.

Stineman stepped out of her car or truck, shocked.

“I wasn’t anticipating this at all!” she instructed her audience of friends, family members and media.

Stineman hugged just about every single individual between the dozens that gathered to rejoice her wins. She even positioned her shiny, significant medals in the palms of a few, letting them experience the empowering bodyweight of accomplishment.

Previously this yr, Stineman turned the youngest and only feminine competitor from Williamson County, and the to start with from Nolensville Significant, to qualify for the Unique Olympics United states of america Game titles.

After several years of cancellations and delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she and her family have been ecstatic to ultimately go to the game titles. They fundraised all over the initially half of 2022 in buy to show up at.

And when it was eventually time to depart for Florida, even the City of Nolensville and its board of commissioners honored her.

During the occasion, Stineman made the greatest toss of the shotput competition (5.05 meters), as perfectly as the mini-javelin (13.3 meters).

Stineman’s mother, Pam Stineman, kept supporters up-to-date on Fb through the week in Orlando.

“As I started publishing that she experienced gained a gold medal, the email messages started off and (followers) were so delighted,” she stated. “Then the e-mails commenced and neighbors texted me asking what time we had been going to be household, so I sort of experienced a emotion a thing was up their sleeve… But I never ever envisioned this a lot.”

Using in the blue and white balloons, symptoms and human-sized, glittery cutout letters examining “Congrats Bethany!” and “Usa” posted on the front garden of her residence, she asked her mother if she could use them to adorn her space and retain forever. To which, her mom of training course answered ‘Yes.’

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“I’m confused,” Pam Stineman stated. “This has obtained to be the ideal neighborhood in the nation.”

Many other athletes skilled for and attended the Unique Olympics United states Game titles this year from Williamson C
ounty, together with Norris Peterson, Eric Wilson, Braden Jenkins, Aiden Holdaway and Matthew Drumright.

Peterson, who lives in Franklin, gained two silver medals and a person bronze in powerlifting, while Drumright, a Brentwood resident, received a gold medal in golfing. Jenkins, a resident of Fairview, received a bronze medal as part of Tennessee’s basketball group.

Anika Exum is a reporter covering Williamson County at The Tennessean, portion of the United states of america Today Network — Tennessee. Arrive at her at aexum@tennessean.com, 615-347-7313 or on Twitter @aniexum. To continue to be up to date on Williamson County information, sign up for our publication. 

This report initially appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nolensville neighbors welcome Unique Olympics gold medalist home