Brave New World

Cole Goering defied the odds to become an alpine skier at the 2025 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Italy. His courageous journey from the neonatal intensive care unit to the slopes of the Western Alps serves as an inspiration to all who have come to know him.

Parents almost always take the first glance at their newborn child and begin to imagine the endless possibilities that could come out of that little life. For the first nine months of Cole Goering’s life, his mother and father just looked forward to the day they would get to take him away from the neonatal intensive care unit at a Marietta hospital.

Goering was born a twin at 25 weeks. He stayed in the NICU longer than he did his mother’s womb, and for the first two years of his life, he had a tracheotomy and wore a G-tube—a device used to provide nutrition and fluids to patients who cannot eat or drink adequately on their own. Not exactly the kind of storied beginning one might think to write for a world-class, Olympic skier. Yet that was exactly how it began for Goering.

Flash forward some two decades. Goering spent the second week of March competing at the 2025 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Italy. A former member of the Eastside High School swim team, Goering became a key part of the vast group of Special Olympics athletes LaTrelle Cawthon has coached through her work with the Newton County School System. Cawthon, the Special Olympics coordinator for Newton County, often considers the miraculous journey that led to his becoming “our first international athlete” to come from the area. The scale of the accomplishment has not been lost on Goering, either.

“It’s pretty exciting,” he said through a bright smile that spoke more than words ever could.

From March 8–16, he suited up as an alpine skier at the Winter Games in the Western Alps. Goering started the sport when he was just 6 years old. “I used to live in Denver,” he said, “and my dad put me in ski school there. Then I came here and Ms. Latrelle got me into skiing, and we’d go up to Boone, North Carolina.” Cawthon arranged for Goering to compete with the Georgia Delegation for the USA Games. It has been a quick progression for him, from the yellow beginner level to his current blue intermediate designation.

“Watching a Special Olympian is not like watching another athlete.”
LaTrelle Cawthon

When asked for her thoughts on Goering, she could not hold back the tears.

“Watching a Special Olympian is not like watching another athlete,” she said. “The challenges these athletes have and have to overcome is unbelievable. If [only] we could all be as brave and as kind as Special Olympians. I’ve never met one who doesn’t have the most courage and joy in life.”

Goering draws his courage from the joy he finds in competition and pushing himself to be the best at anything he does—even at his job at the Town Center Dunkin’ Donuts in Covington. “He’s a hard worker there,” Cawthon said, “and they really do depend on him.” However, Goering’s discipline and commitment kick in when he finds himself surrounded by dozens of mouthwatering pastries. “I don’t eat much there,” he said matter-of-factly. “I have to train.” A twice-a-day regular at Alcovy Fitness, Goering understands the demands associated with being on the top of his game as a skier. “I really love the challenge,” he said.

Few things seem to scare him. Even when faced with a 14-hour plane ride to Italy to compete on the biggest stage of his life, he had a plan to combat any fears that might arise. “I’ll get up and do some high knees or something,” he said. It was his first trip outside the United States, and he admitted to some nervousness. Even so, he set out to conquer it with the same resolve he used to combat his doubts when learning to ski.

“You just get it in your mind that you’re going to fall a couple of times,” he said. “You learn to never look down at your skis, because if you look down, you’ll automatically fall. Once you get used to it, you say, ‘Ok, I’m going to fall,’ but you get back up on the skis and go back down the hill again.”

Aside from skiing and swimming, Cole competes on Cawthon’s 3-on-3 basketball team. An avid sports fan, he points to the Denver Broncos and Denver Nuggets as his favorite teams. Resilience seems to come naturally to him.

“Cole’s great at that,” Cawthon said. “He’s very brave.”

(l-r) Brooke dial, Dawn Goering, cole Goering and latrelle Cawthon

Goering received a groundswell of support from the Newton County community, which only inspired him to train harder and prepare more diligently for success at a global event being broadcast on ESPN. While he always wants to win, he pointed to the Special Olympics Athlete’s Oath and his desire to live up to it as an even more significant source of motivation. He can recite it by heart.