Matt Millet and His Shot Seen Around the World
Matt Millet is a close friend of mine. During the Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi, in a game against Canada, with the USA up by 14, he hit a 75-foot buzzer beating 3 pointer to end the game, a shot that was better than Steph Curry’s buzzer beater that happened during the day before!
This shot was seen all around the world, which is a massive testament to the brilliant coverage of ESPN. Matt is now a national star, which really does bring a smile to my face. He has been an amazing athlete and a great leader. He totally deserves this.
Matt and I met at a truly historic moment in our organisation, the Unity Cup. This was an event that was held during the FIFA World Cup in South Africa in 2010. It was a Celebrity Unified Football match. This means that half the team were athletes with intellectual disabilities, and the others were celebrities. To me, this was the event that kickstarted the Unified Generation and Unified Sports.
It was an amazing event; the game was unbelievable. The standard was great. The game had four goals, all of them by athletes.
But the most amazing thing that happened in that game was when 19-year-old Yacine Albi scored a goal from a Bicycle Kick. That is a goal scored by kicking the ball over your head! This was the only goal scored at that World Cup from a Bicycle kick! Just like Matt’s incredible shot nine years later, Yacine’s Bicycle Kick demonstrated that Special Olympics athletes are amazing athletes.
This was an amazing moment. Matt played in this game too, which does truly highlight that he is a true elite athlete.
The beautiful thing about what happened with Matt is that we were able to capture it. Not only did we capture it, but we have professional footage of it. To me, this is a symbol that Special Olympics is starting to really get there. I think that Matt would agree with this.
As we all felt back in South Africa nearly ten years ago, this organisation has truly arrived. As we have said, we are athletes, and given the right environment, we can excel. We now have the media there to really show our excellence to the world.
Matt Millet is a true pioneer. It makes me smile to think about it. He and Special Olympics have truly arrived. This is his moment, but it also our moment. A moment where the world can truly see what this organisation is, a truly inclusive sporting organisation that supports athletes doing amazing things!
