What’s one of your best birthday memories?

While there is no doubt, Tyler Lagasse and Lindsey Blagg have had some memorable experiences over the years, in 2024 they were both surprised with some truly incredible news. Special Olympics Massachusetts VP of Sports, Matt Ruxton called to inform them of their nomination to Special Olympics USA’s Ski Team for the 2025 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Torino, taly. The responses were exactly what you’d expect with Tyler putting his hands to his face and responding, “Oh, my God. That’s awesome, man!” and Lindsey echoed that sentiment with “Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!”

Tyler Lagasse is a long time Special Olympics athlete known mostly for his accomplishments on the golf course where he won gold in the high-performance division at the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games in Orlando, Florida. Tyler is no stranger to the snow—he has been competing in alpine skiing at the state-level in Massachusetts winning medals across all disciplines including Downhill, Slalom and Super G. Off the slopes and golf course, Tyler has been an active and vocal advocate for autism awareness and acceptance through his work as a Special Olympics Global Messenger and as a Flutie Fellow through the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation. This will be his first World Games experience.

Lindsey Blagg has been competing in Special Olympics for over 25 years. In that time, she has run track, competed in swimming, bowling, cornhole and alpine skiing. Her skiing prowess has taken her to the world stage once before, representing Special Olympics USA at the 2013 World Winter Games in Pyeong Chang, South Korea. Outside of her athletic endeavors, Lindsey is an Inclusion Ambassador through the Special Olympics Massachusetts Athlete Leadership program. And as with many Special Olympics stories, this is a family affair for the Blaggs with Lindsey’s mother, Paula coaching with the Berkshire Red Raiders swim team.

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