TORONTO -- For Ezekiel Liu, one of the most exciting reasons to enter competitive speed skating was for the opportunity to travel. 

“I’m excited to go to Thunder Bay, because I’m taking an airplane for two hours,” the 14-year-old told CTV News Toronto. 

His mother, Fiona Goy, seconds that excitement. 

“He’s so stoked! Last year was our first experience at the Provincial Games and we were so excited because that was his dream.” 

Liu’s dream came true when he took home four medals in Sault Ste Marie in 2019. This week, he’s reaching higher than ever before at the Special Olympics Canada Winter Games – his first competition on the National level. 

Ezekiel

“Going to Nationals means he’s going to [represent] Team Ontario and I think that makes him feel very fulfilled,” Goy said. 

Liu began speed skating seven years ago, after showing an interest in being on the ice. Goy said hockey and figure skating proved to be challenging for Liu, but speed skating turned out to be “the perfect sport” for her son. 

“It lets him skate fast, which he enjoys, and at the same time it was very repetitive, which is great for an autistic mind,” she said. “The autism makes a lot of things difficult. [Ezekiel] understands that he’s been blessed with the skill of speed skating.” 

Training with the Toronto Speed Skating Club three days a week, Liu says he has also stepped up his regimen with 15 minutes of dry land training every day. 

His coach, Cameron Boyd, says Liu has great athletic ability. 

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“He’s very stable. He skates the track quite well. He doesn’t seem to be overcome with pressure,” Boyd tells CTV News Toronto. “So he goes out, and seems to have some fun!”

Liu is often accompanied on the ice by his father, Henry, who helps give his son the one-on-one attention he needs while training with a bigger group. 

“We feel very blessed. A lot of people have come in and supported [Ezekiel],” Goy said. 

She adds that speed skating, and participating in the Special Olympics, has made her son feel “very significant” in his community. 

“Among his friends, among the skaters, he stands a little bit taller,” Goy said. “I would like to encourage families with special needs [children] to look at your child, accept them for who they are and get them enrolled in Special Olympics sports, because the amount of self-confidence they can gain is tremendous.”

Liu will compete in his first race on Wednesday Feb. 26.