Islamabad: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has congratulated the Pakistani squad for winning 56 medals at the recently concluded Special Olympics Summer Games 2011 held in Athens. He said that spectacular performance of the members of Pakistan’s squad in eight sports including athletics, aquatics, badminton, basketball, bocce, cycling, football and table tennis has made the people of Pakistan of Pakistan proud.
The Prime Minister said, “The news of Pakistan winning 17 gold medals, 25 silver and 14 bronze medals in an international event has made me extremely happy. The fact that the 75,000 athletes belonging to 180 countries participated in the event manifested the high level of competition. The Pakistani athletes came out with flying colours and made their country proud in the comity of nations.”
The Prime Minister said that our youth are very talented and have made their mark in different fields in the world. He particularly appreciated 11-year-old Bakhtawar Gul for securing two gold medals in the 100-meter run and long jump-events and a silver medal in the 4X100—meter relay race. He further added that the government would continue to extend its complete support and patronage to the sports and that the devolution of the sports ministry to provinces reflects the determination of the government to facilitate and encourage the sportsmen at the grass-roots.
The Prime Minister also congratulated the members of the squad, their families, management and people of Pakistan on this wonderful performance of the Pakistani squad.
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