SPECIAL OLYMPICS: Three medals including gold for Cradley's Sam Oliver

The teenager came top in the equestrian working trails discipline and second in English equitation and horse matching.

Oliver is the first county horseman to have been picked for the competition and in a county double, Janet Alderton is assisting Special Olympics head coach Sarah Moreland.

In total, Team GB won eight golds, five silver and two ribbons in equestrian at the Games, the largest to take place to date.

More than 6,500 athletes took part from 165 nations and saw a glut of celebrities attend.

It was opened by Michelle Obama, wife of US president Barack Obama.

Oliver, who went to the Bishop of Hereford's Bluecoat School, is diagnosed with receptive and expressive language disorder and started riding at Herefordshire Riding for the Disabled when he was in year eight.

Alderton, meanwhile, has been helping riders with disabilities since the 1980's and is looking to develop the next generation of coaches as well as supporting current and future athletes in equestrianism.

She is also currently working on establishing Special Olympics Herefordshire with the hope that a number of other sports will also become available to potential athletes in the county.

 "The experience of being a team coach has been amazing, seeing people who are often overlooked in life are now walking with heads held high," said Janet.

"It's a big responsibility but one I'm honoured to have."

The GB equestrian team consists of just five riders from across the British Isles, with each competitor having to raise £2,500 towards the cost of the trip.

The Special Olympics began in the 1950's and early 1960's when Eunice Kennedy Shriver saw how unjustly people with intellectual disabilities were treated.

Share article

Share article Her vision began to take shape, as she held a summer day camp for young people with intellectual disabilities in her own backyard.

The Special Olympics movement was later created, with the first held in Illinois in 1968.