The rain not yet peppering the 49th annual Lloyd Ray Smith Area 4 Special Olympics Games at Ooltewah High School on Saturday morning, 21-year-old William Toney shifted back and forth in his motorized chariot, determined to win his 50-meter wheelchair race.
“Is that thing street legal?” shouted one spectator.
Toney smiled and nodded in the affirmative and then he was off, deftly winding his way through the orange traffic cones, both hands tightly gripping the chair’s handlebars, his eyes firmly on the prize.
“You’re going to get a speeding ticket!” Chattanooga attorney and longtime Special Olympics volunteer Jerry Summers yelled to the one-time Central High School homecoming king.
Instead, Toney got a blue ribbon for winning the race before pumping his fists, his victory cementing yet another perfect start to an event long filled with perfection.