[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 13634]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO DANIELLE BLAKENEY

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to an honored 
Kentuckian who is bringing home Olympic gold. Danielle Blakeney of 
Erlanger is a rhythmic gymnast who has won three gold medals at the 
2015 Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles.
  Danielle won the gold medal in the ball routine competition. She also 
won gold in all-around rhythmic gymnastics, and was part of the gold 
medal-winning team in the group ball competition.
  Danielle also won a silver medal in the ribbon competition, a bronze 
medal in the clubs competition, and placed fifth in the hoop 
competition.
  Danielle is 24 years old and a graduate of Boone County High School. 
She is one of six Kentucky athletes competing in this year's Special 
Olympics, among 7,000 athletes representing 177 countries.
  Danielle is no stranger to winning medals. She is competing in her 
second Special Olympics World Games. In addition to winning the all-
around gold medal in rhythmic gymnastics at the 2011 Games in Athens, 
Greece, she won two golds, a silver and a bronze in individual events 
at that games as well.
  The mission of the Special Olympics is to provide year-round sports 
training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports 
for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them the 
opportunity to see the power of sport change lives. The first Special 
Olympics Games was held in 1968 in Chicago, and saw a thousand people 
with intellectual disabilities from 26 States and Canada participate.
  Today, Danielle Blakeney and her fellow athletes are the inheritors 
of that legacy. I want to congratulate Danielle for her many athletic 
achievements. She truly makes Kentucky proud and we are pleased she 
will be bringing her medals home to the Bluegrass State.

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