Wilmette’s Johnny Wrenn, a graduate of New Trier High School, had never been out of the country before. 

So imagine his reaction to traveling all the way to Abu Dhabi and Dubai to participate in the 2019 Special Olympics World Games last March.

“I wish it never ended,” Wrenn said.

There’s good reason for Wrenn’s sentiment as he comes home with a gold medal he won during the pentathlon competition — one made up of the 100-meter dash, 400-meter dash, shot put and the triple and long jumps.

“I was really shocked, proud, humbled,” said Wrenn about standing on the podium with the medal around his neck. “I felt proud, really happy to represent my country.”

 

Unfortunately for Wrenn and his Special Olympics teammates, that opportunity to represent their home country may no longer be an option.

On Tuesday, March 26, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVoss, in her proposed budget cuts, included cutting the funding for the Special Olympics completely out of the upcoming budget.

For Special Olympics athletes like Wrenn, this sent all kinds of emotions through them, especially since the group had just come back from Abu Dhabi a day or two prior.

“Anger,” Wrenn said when he was asked what his first reaction was when he heard the news. “I was confused why someone would want to do that.”

The state of Illinois is one of a handful of states that has the luxury of fully funding their Special Olympics athletes trips to national team training camps, as well as fully funding the athletes’ trips to the World Games this month. With that proposed cut, however, it’s unclear if that will affect the state’s funding of its athletes.

The road traveled

Wrenn, a 2015 graduate of New Trier, started participating in Northern Suburban Special Recreation Association activities when he was 17. While he was doing Special Olympics at New Trier, he had a coach that asked if he wanted some better competition and recommended NSSRA.

While at the Winnetka school, Wrenn was the basketball team manager, ran both cross-country and track and was in special-ed classes.

Being able to take part in so many opportunities really helped Wrenn’s mom, Susan, see him in a totally way.

“For me, it brought him out of his shell,” Susan Wrenn said. “It made him feel like a part of the school. He didn’t have a real high school experience and it helped him feel a part of something.

Wrenn, 24, was born with Klinefelter’s syndrome, also known as XXY syndrome, as those who are diagnosed with it have an extra X chromosome. Wrenn has also been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and ulcerative colitis. None of that stopped him from pursuing his dreams though.

Training for the big meet

Qualifying for the Special Olympics World Games is quite similar to qualifying for the able-bodied Olympics, in that there are team trials and national games that help decide who goes to represent the country.

This year’s Special Olympics World Games featured 315 United States athletes and 14 from Illinois.

The team was actually set last September after a week-long training camp held at the University of Delaware.

While Wrenn didn’t have any true training partners here in Chicago, he wasn’t alone. National coaches would email or talk to him, setting him up with a training program. That program contained three days of strength training. The other two days consisted of spring running, endurance training, running and swimming. Each workout last about 90 minutes per day.

Wrenn did his training at Welles Park in Chicago, a facility close to where his family now lives after his family moved around his 21st birthday.

Along with the training, Wrenn takes part in a day program at Welles. The program runs 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays. It helps the 35-40 participants with sports, socialization and other skills as well. Since he is a member of the program, Wrenn was able to use all of Welles’ equipment while training for the Games.

“Yes, it really helped me with my endurance,” Wrenn said about the multitude of sports he’s able to participate at Welles.

With the current Games done, Wrenn plans on taking a week off before starting training again for the Special Olympics downstate later this spring.

He also plans on participating in the next National Games, which will be in Orlando in 2021, and hopefully the next Summer World Games in 2023.

While Wrenn plans on still pursuing the pentathlon, he’d like to add a new event to his repertoire.

“Swimming,” he said. “I really like the medley. I got to love it while training.”

At the rate he’s going, we’ll be seeing him atop the podium once again at the next Summer Games.