Bryan Terry didn’t know what kimchi was, but he knew he wanted to try it.
The taste of the traditional Korean fermented cabbage dish was just a fraction of what the 35-year-old Aurora resident and Special Olympics Colorado athlete wanted to savor before he winged off the 6,124 miles to PyeongChang, Korea, for the 10th Special Olympics World Winter Games in late January.
Terry, cross country skier, and five other Colorado athletes with cognitive disabilities were just a few of the 3,300 athletes from 112 countries who flocked to the future home of the 2018 Winter Olympics for the Special Olympics games. But few of those athletes could have been as prepared for the trip as Terry, who spent weeks after his selection learning as much as he could about Korea, including his most favorite thing — food.
“I have to give credit to my late grandmother; she taught me, if you don’t like what it looks like, you try it,” Terry said with a smile, patting his stomach. “I just like to try foods. I am open to different foods and cuisines no matter how different they look. I like to go with the flow.”
With Terry, it doesn’t stop with food. He learned phrases in Korean, calculated the time difference with Aurora, checked on the weather and researched some of the historic sites he wanted to see in Korea. He knew when he needed to arrive at the airport for his international flight, that he had to pack an electrical adapter and that he had to brush his teeth with bottled water.
Terry remembers some Moroccan phrases from a 2010 trip to Marrakesh, 14 words of Mandarin Chinese from his 2007 experience bowling in the World Summer Games in Shanghai and also knows a smattering of Spanish and German. Special Olympics competitions have also taken him to Mexico and Canada, as well as to Alaska and Tennessee.
All these things and more have been made possible since he began with Special Olympics when his mother, Corlene, got him involved at 8 years old. Terry has competed in bowling, swimming, cycling and cross country skiing in 26 years with the organization — which has more than 12,000 active athletes in Colorado — and has won more than 200 medals. He’s also seen significant growth outside of competition. He eagerly speaks to just about anybody he meets, takes it upon himself to help new athletes feel welcome and often acts as an athlete spokesman at Special Olympics events.
Though he still lives at home with his parents, Terry’s developed a sense of independence through Special Olympics. His parents can’t go on his international trips because of health and financial concerns, so he’s learned to fend for himself. He’s found a job — though he was recently laid off as a sterilization technician at an Aurora dentist’s office — and he’s been able to open all sorts of other doors.
“I tried to enter him in Scouts or different sports, but something always went wrong, and he was in over his head,” said Corlene, who has had another son in competitive soccer.
“Some organizations said ‘maybe you should come with him,’ but nobody wants his mom with him everywhere he goes. Special Olympics felt comfortable, and it’s really helped him feel good and successful. He’s been able to go places, do things and meet people I can only dream of,” she said.
The family also gets to live vicariously through Terry’s trips. They learned Tai Chi and how to make Chinese dumplings from his trip to Shanghai and looked forward to what he’d bring back from Korea.
“Bryan doesn’t want to miss anything,” Corlene said.
Terry’s coach, Randy Miller, got involved with Special Olympics through his son, who competed in cycling before developing an interest in winter sports.
Miller went through the rigorous certification process to become a Special Olympics coach. He took workshops and tests that helped him learn how to deal with athletes with all sorts of disabilities — from autism to severe learning disabilities — and how to work with introverted athletes and those short on self esteem.
From the moment he encountered Terry a few years ago, Miller — who was immediately struck by Terry’s 6-foot-6 frame, which is vastly different most of the athletes he works with in snowshoeing and cross country skiing — knew he wouldn’t have to worry about shyness. Building confidence was the name of the game. It came incrementally, then quickly.
“At first Bryan wasn’t quite sure of himself as to what his potential was, so we put him on short courses and I was able to build up his confidence,” Miller said. “He started almost amazing himself when he saw what he could do. We took some baby steps, but once he was convinced he could do it, he became so sure of himself. Now, he does a 7 1/2-K course without even thinking about it.”
Terry — who first became interested in cross country skiing through his father, Frank, who coached and helped out with Special Olympics in the past — now passes up short courses for longer ones and seeks out hills for the challenge as well as the view.
“Cross country skiing is one of those endurance sports and you get to move your entire body,” Terry said. “Your toes are locked in, but you have the freedom to move around. I like to go off course or outback skiing where you get the chance to see the scenery.”
He’s developed into one of the best Special Olympics cross country skiiers in Colorado and won a gold medal at a state competition that put him in the pool to be selected for the World Winter Games.
His name was picked out of a hat, literally, along with those of Alex Bender of Carbondale (alpine skiing), Arvada’s Amanda Douglass (figure skating), Cody Field of Centennial (snowboarding), Rachel Kurth of Denver (cross country skiing) and Boulder’s Michael Sieger (alpine skiing) for the trip to Korea. The group got to train in Lake Placid, New York — site of the 1980 Winter Olympics — for a week before their trip.
Terry didn’t win an individual medal, but brought home a silver as part of Team USA’s 4x1K relay team.