New Zealand has earned its first medals at this year's Special Olympics thanks to the efforts of Kiwi powerlifter Ryan Stewart.
After a wobbly start, Stewart corrected himself to win an impressive four silver medals in Berlin on the second day of competition.
Stewart opened with a failed first lift before getting his name on the board with a 102.5kg lift, which he then followed up with a 72.5kg bench press before lifting 145kg in the deadlift.
Despite being involved in the Special Olympics for 18 years and being part of the powerlifting circuit, coach Sonia Manaema said she believes the boisterous crowd may have thrown Stewart off at the start of the event.
"I think the whole occasion and the crowd got to Ryan a bit on the first squat attempt," Manaema said.
"But we had a good chat after that first attempt to remind him to listen to the coaches on stage and after that he was great."
In fact, he finished the competition with an impressive 152.5kg deadlift although it was disallowed by the judges.
Stewart, showing the Special Olympics spirit, wasn't fazed by the officials' decision.
"Nah, I had to give it a go and had nothing to lose."
As a result, he finished second in all three disciplines as well as overall, earning him the four medals he proudly wore around his neck.
Topping the podium was Greek athlete Dimitri Kyriakos Andriopoulos who was in a class of his own to pick up gold in all three disciplines, as well as the overall title.
Elsewhere, golfer Mitch Brown finished even-par in his opening round of the World Games, while the 3x3 basketball team scored a 7-0 win in their first match against Romania.
In the pool, several New Zealand swimmers earned personal bests in their semi-finals to be well placed for the medals, including Matthew Smith who broke his PB in 50m and 25m backstroke while Bella Lammers also set two new best times in the 25m freestyle and 25m backstroke.
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