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only provided her employment, but when they found out she qualified for the Special Olympics, they did everything they could to show support.

That support included a $1,500 donation and a celebration party featuring Brianna Larson and all of her co-workers at the company. JoAnn Larson spoke about the support of Brianna’s employer.

“Everybody in the company signed a banner that they made just for her to take down there (to Orlando),” JoAnn Larson said. “They took care of her and all of these people came together. They had a beautiful send-off party for it.”

Once Brianna Larson raised the funds necessary, it was time for her to travel to Orlando and get ready to compete on the biggest Special Olympics stage in the country. The games were held at the Exploria Stadium which began with an opening ceremony that was covered by ABC and ESPN.

The live broadcast, which was going to millions of homes throughout the country, featured Brianna Larson as one of the first athletes to walk into the stadium because of her fundraising success. She was also prominently displayed on the live broadcast during the national anthem with her hand over her heart.

“In the opening ceremony, we were sitting there and she came up on the jumbotron, out of all of the athletes, they picked (Brianna),” JoAnn Larson said. “I’m sure they picked her because of her patriotic phone case, her hand on her heart and she was singing her heart out. The Star-Spangled Banner is her favorite song.”

After all of the pre-game festivities were over and the opening ceremony had concluded, Brianna Larson got ready to do what she traveled to Orlando to accomplish – win a gold medal. After performing well in the preliminary events, Brianna punched her ticket to the finals in two of the biggest track events, the 100-meter dash and the 4×100-meter relay as a part of team Wisconsin.

On the day of the finals, JoAnn Larson remembers the nerves, the heat in the stadium and the crowd environment, but above all, she remembers a quick text exchange with Brianna Larson moments before she competed in the Special Olympics.

“That morning she went out to run the 100-meter, I really didn’t know how she would do because she finished fourth in the heat,” JoAnn Larson said. “I sent her a text message and said, ‘Do your best. It doesn’t make any difference what you do as long as you do your best.’ She sent me back a text that said, ‘I know. I’m golden. I’m number one.’ With a picture of a gold medal.”

With that mentality and years of experience helping her, Brianna Larson ran the race of her life. JoAnn Larson took photos and video at the beginning of the race while her husband, Bob Larson, took video down by the finish line. JoAnn Larson recalled that magical race.

“Brianna gets in front of this gal (during the race) and I see Bob start to jump up and down,” JoAnn Larson said. “He’s screaming, ‘Go Brianna! Go!’ And she crossed the finish line. That was just such an awesome moment and that was on ESPN.”

Thousands of people in attendance got to watch as Brianna Larson made her dreams come true on that hot summer day down in Orlando. Her races in the 100-meter dash and the 4×100-meter relay, where she won gold both times, were covered live on ESPN and were shown in their entirety for the whole country to see.

JoAnn stated that it was the experience of a lifetime. Bob Larson stated that competing on a stage that large brings more awareness to the Special Olympics that it may not have had before, especially in Pierce County.

“People just don’t know that this stuff is going on,” Bob Larson said. “I couldn’t believe the number of people that said, ‘I had no idea this was going on or had Special Olympics around here.’ The Special Olympics bring awareness to that. This is something that they can do for themselves and they are offered an opportunity to do it on a national scale. They don’t get as many opportunities as we do.”

Although the 2022 Special Olympics are done, there will be another USA Games in four years, the summer of 2026, which will happen at the University of Minnesota, an institution that was recently awarded the host location of the next Special Olympics USA Games.

Brianna Larson is currently 35 years old and if all goes according to plan, she will defend her gold medals in those 2026 games which are located less than 90 minutes away from where she currently resides in Plum City.

Brianna Larson stands at the entrance to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla., with her signed banner from supporters back home in Pierce County and at her place of employment in Red Wing, Minn. Photo courtesy of JoAnn Larson

Brianna Larson competed in the mini-javelin throw at the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games in Orlando, Fla. Larson earned a seventh-place finish in the mini-javelin, in addition to her two gold medals in track events. Photo courtesy of JoAnn Larson.