Recent News
Dan Bayerl: Gold Medal Olympian
April 1, 2015 — Congratulations to Dan for being awarded a Gold medal in the 2014 State Bowling Tournament for the Minnesota Special Olympics!
Dan was featured in an article last winter for his achievements in the 2013 Special Olympics singles bowling season where Dan’s high score lead him to a bronze medal for his admirable bowling skills. This is quite an accomplishment considering he only started competing in Singles Bowling in the fall of 2013. He was very proud of his success and continued to anticipate the new 2014 bowling season. Dan personally identified his goal of bringing home the gold medal the next time.
When practices started up again for the new season he kept everyone updated on his scores and up-coming tournaments. Dan was feeling good about his performance at weekly practices. When the day of the tournament arrived, Dan bowled a “147” and a “129”. After everyone had completed their bowling, the medal contenders were announced. Dan had won the gold medal! He shared his excitement after hearing the announcement, “I felt excellent, I was up in arms!”
After winning the gold, he used the money he had been saving to buy a new bowling ball. He was able to have it customized to his hand size, has his name engraved on it and chose the colors; candy-red and turquoise.
Dan’s enthusiasm for friendly competition doesn’t stop at bowling. In the spring of 2014 he participated in Track and Field where he won three medals; bronze in the shot put, bronze in the 50 meter dash, and silver in the 100 meter dash. He doesn’t foresee his competition days ending anytime soon. Dan has said, “I love it so much because I get to go to new towns and meet a lot of new people.” Currently Dan is participating in Basketball. Competing in the Minnesota Special Olympics keeps him driven and working hard. It has given him a place to engage with friends, meet new people and demonstrate his ability to work hard and achieve his goals.
Dan has been working at Functional Industries since November 2012 and has participated in Special Olympics on and off for over 20 years, competing in bowling, track and field, and swimming. He has really shown an interest in competing and participating in Special Olympics has given him this opportunity. He has earned numerous gold, silver and bronze medals over the years. He will now have another gold medal to add to his awards. Dan embodies the true Olympic spirit of excellence, friendship and respect in all of his pursuits. We continue to follow and cheer on Dan and all of our athletes and look forward to hearing about their success!
MEDIA CONTACT:
Heather Dick
hdick@functionalindustries.org
763-233-5167