Following a warm week and heavy rains in Rochester, Special Olympics New York organizers moved the Snowshoe competition from Rochester’s Sports Complex to the Bristol Mountain Nordic Center where athletes joined the cross-country ski racers.

Athletes ran distances ranging from the 10m sprint to a 400m distance race and teams competed in the 4x100m relay.

New York State Troopers were on hand, cheering on the athletes and awarding the newly designed 2026 medals after the competition.

By Aiko Levick

ROCHESTER, N.Y. —Erik Viscardo is a SONY athlete from the North Country Region. On Feb. 21, 2026, on top of the snow-covered Bristol Mountain, he competed in the 50-meter and 100-meter snowshoe events.  Viscardo brought home bronze in gold to his snowshoe team, the Adirondack Rednecks.

When the rest of the “Rednecks” compete, Viscardo can be seen leading warm-ups before a competition. During a typical warm-up, he introduces himself, then announces the stretch that he’ll be doing.

Viscardo maintained a confident attitude leading up to and during the competition. He made friendly chatter with many of the athletes and coaches around him.

After being presented with his gold medal, “I thought I would get it!” he exclaimed.

Background

Viscardo is a seasoned member of the SONY community, having joined about 10 years ago. Since then, he has won several medals, served a two-year term on the Athlete Leadership Council (ALC) and won SONY’s 2023 Athlete of the Year Award.

According to SONY, members of ALC “are the ‘faces & voices’ of [SONY].” Athlete Leaders are responsible for discussing SONY policies, delivering speeches and talking to the media.

On winning 2023 Athlete of the Year, Viscardo said, “It was a really, really big accomplishment for me, …and I get to show all my friends and family and everyone I know that you can make it in whatever you put your mind to.”

Recently, Viscardo has been getting involved in public speaking. He does not get performance anxiety, which he mentioned as a strength. “I’ve always liked talking because I am like a people person,” he explained.

During Closing Ceremonies, Viscardo presented the “Athlete Reflection.” This is an opportunity for a notable athlete to share insights about their weekend. Viscardo spoke loudly and clearly.

“You’re the reason we get to come together to shine on a stage like this,” he told audience members.

Viscardo’s favorite aspect of SONY is the connections he has formed. “It’s a great chance to be with people that you don’t know,” he said.

Kayla Ware, Viscardo’s coach, agreed on SONY’s benefits,  saying, “[The athletes] get a lot out of it. They get the social aspect and the exercise.”

Being a SONY athlete has allowed him to make plenty of friends. Viscardo has even begun dating another athlete, Ava McIntosh, who competes in Alpine downhill skiing, after meeting her through SONY. “I’m popular with women,” he added, coyly.

McIntosh congratulated Viscardo with an embrace after he delivered his Athlete Reflection. She later explained that after meeting Viscardo at one of the qualifying events, they “exchanged phone numbers and just kind of started talking.” The two openly referred to themselves as “boyfriend and girlfriend.”

“I’m happy that I get to be part of the games…that kind of really helped to make our love story!” McIntosh said cheerfully.

Along with snowshoeing, Viscardo competes in bowling and bocce.

Despite Viscardo’s athleticism and current passion for the SONY community, he wasn’t always interested in sports. It wasn’t until he worked as the equipment manager for his brother’s high school sports teams that he realized that he wanted to get involved in athletics.

Outside of Sports

When Viscardo isn’t winning medals, he stocks shelves at a grocery store, enjoys playing Assassin’s Creed games and watching Marvel movies. He relates to the character Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory, “because [he] has a very detailed brain.”