These three track athletes have trained together under volunteer coach Tom Norton since last September in preparation for the Special Olympics Canada Summer Games, which were held in London, Ont. July 13-17.

Special Olympics is for athletes of all ages with intellectual disabilities. There are 3,700 Special Olympics athletes in B.C. who compete locally and, over a four-year period, can potentially work their way up to provincial, national, and international competition.

A total of 182 top Special Olympics athletes travelled to London as members of Team BC to compete in a variety of summer sports.

Tom Norton, a staff sergeant with the E-Division RCMP staff relations program and an avid runner and fitness enthusiast himself, volunteers countless hours coaching the three athletes. Rain or shine, he has been leading training sessions at both Langley's McLeod Athletic Park and Abbotsford's Jane and Gerry Swan track for conditioning, drills, race strategy, and skills building to help these athletes achieve success in London.

All the hard work has paid off.

Tom couldn't be more impressed with the commitment demonstrated by Chris, Paige and Matthew.

"This group has done all the hard work I've thrown at them from the minute we started our dedicated training sessions last September," he said. "They should be very proud of everything they have achieved."

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Eighteen-year-old Matthew Williams is also a rising star with Special Olympics.

This was his first national competition, but given the hard work he did to prepare, Matthew - a Langley resident - was feeling quietly optimistic about his chances for a spot on the podium.

Tom sees exceptional natural ability in Matthew's performance on the track, including significant improvement this year in his 400-metre time. Matthew was thrilled to end up with two medals, a gold in the 400m and bronze in the 200m.

Throughout his training, Matthew drew on another strength: the ability to stay focussed. This couldn't have been entirely easy considering the other things he's had going on lately. Matthew recently graduated from high school, and also just returned from Morocco where he represented B.C. and Special Olympics Canada at a Global Congress to plan the future course of Special Olympics.

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Chris Hamilton of Abbotsford is the veteran of the group.

At 38 years old, Chris is a multi-sport athlete with significant experience at past national competitions in track, soccer, and short track speedskating. In addition, Chris has been skating with Abbotsford's Matsqui Blades Speedskating Club for more than 20 years and is, in fact, the club's longest standing member.

Tom has been working with Chris to bring him back from an ankle injury, but also on helping Chris feel comfortable running in close quarters and positioning himself on the track in relation to his competition.

Tom feels Chris' strength is in the longer races. and sure enough, Chris had a great 800m race at the Games and was rewarded for all his hard work with a silver medal.

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Paige Norton, also of Abbotsford, is only 16 but is already a force to be reckoned with as she tore up the track in London, winning medals in every event she ran, bringing home gold in the 200m and bronze medals in the 400m and 100m.

Like Chris, Paige competes in several sports, and has collected some incredible experiences through her involvement with Special Olympics, both on and off the sports field.

Most notably, Paige was a medal winner in short track speedskating for Team Canada at the Special Olympics World Winter Games in 2009 in Boise, Idaho.

She was interviewed not only by TSN in Boise, but also by ABC Sports, and has shared the stage with Vancouver Canucks Willie Mitchell and Ryan Kesler, as well as former Canuck Michael Grabner at the Special Olympics Sports Celebrity fundraising event.

Not bad for a 16-year-old.