Proud papa: Al Roker’s son snags two gold medals in Special Olympics
The best Father's Day gift a dad could have is to see his son overcome his challenges, which is what Nick Roker did at the games in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
NBC weather anchor Al Roker might be a marathoner, but his teen son Nicholas “Nick” Albert Roker has done him more than one better, taking home two gold medals from a Special Olympics swim meet at Vassar College.
Roker, 64, boasted about his son’s special Father’s Day gift, saying on Monday’s Today show, “Nick competed for the first time at the statewide Special Olympics in New York.” He added, “He won a gold medal in the 25-yard butterfly and a gold medal in the 50-yard (freestyle).”
READ MORE: Al Roker and Deborah Roberts on son’s inspiring journey to overcome “developmental delays”
The competition took place on Saturday in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., where Vassar is located.
Roker wrote about his son’s challenges with autism in a recent essay for Guideposts magazine.
“Now that he’s 17, I can tell you that, yes, he’s somewhere on the (autism) spectrum and maybe obsessive-compulsive,” Roker wrote in the piece published in April. “But those labels can be frustrating; they don’t begin to describe who Nick really is,” Roker added.
The longtime NBC weatherman also took to his Instagram account to boast about athlete Nick. Both posts included Nick’s mom and Roker’s wife, Deborah Roberts, a journalist with ABC News.
In one post, Roker shared video of his son taking part in the competition in New York’s Hudson Valley.
In another post, Roker shared two photos — one of the proud parents with Nick in-between them, his gold medals shining around his neck, and another of Nick with his mom and she plants a kiss on his cheek.
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