World Games athlete Kelly McCormick wears her Silver Medal immediately after placing second in her division of the Super G at Bogus Basin Recreation Area.

Louisville athletes Jeannie Luersen and Kelly McCormick and coach Lorene Caudill returned to a throng of family and friends at the Louisville International Airport from the 2009 World Winter Games on Sunday February 15 with memories to last a lifetime. For both Luersen and McCormick, those memories involved trips to the medal stands.

In her second World Winter Games, Luersen captured her second Figure Skating Medal, this one a Silver. She had also competed and medalled in the 2005 World Winter Games in Nagano, Japan.

McCormick returned with three medals around her neck, all for her Alpine Skiing prowess. McCormick won Silver in her first race of the Games — the Super G — then followed that up with Bronze Medal performances in the Giant Slalom and Slalom. It was McCormick's first trip to any major national or international Special Olympics competition.

The 2009 World Winter Games, held in Boise, Idaho, brought together more than 2,000 athletes from 85 countries to compete in five sports. The next World Games — the 2011 World Summer Games — will be held in the birthplace of the Olympics, Athens, Greece.