Thomas Farley won a silver medal to mark the end of a successful judo event for TeamSOGB at the 2015 Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles. 

Thomas’s silver was TeamSOGB’s fifth medal at UCLA’s Activity Centre, as the whole team put on a strong showing in the judo event. 

Earlier in the week Thomas’s brother Harry and Christopher Murphy, also picked up silver medals, whilst Kathleen Inglis secured a bronze. Sarah Scott finished just outside the medal places in fourth place. 

But it was Holly Tadman from East Sussex who capped off a fantastic week for the TeamSOGB judo squad by defeating Johanna Sjoestrand of Sweden to become one of the 68 British gold medallists at the Games. 

The squad were expertly coached by Joanne Imrie and Paul Everest who were both delighted with their athletes efforts over the course of the event. 

The 102 judoka from 23 countries took part in judo event at the Games. They were categorized according to their balance, speed, agility and strength as well as equal weight, before being placed into one of six pools that made up the judo competition. 

The 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games were the thirteenth edition of the multi-sport event which helps to unlock the power and potential of each individual athlete with a learning disability. The next Special Olympics World Summer Games will take place in 2019 with the host city yet to be confirmed. 

For more information about TeamSOGB visit www.specialolympicsgb.org.uk.  

Many of our Los Angeles 2015 medallists will next be in action at the 2015 British Special Needs Open Championships later this month at Stoke Mandeville Stadium, Aylesbury.