Two Edmonton brothers will be competing together at the eighth World Dwarf Games held in Cologne, Germany this month.
Nineteen-year-old twins Brandon and Jared Vanderlinden are representing Alberta at the event for the first time. They were born with achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism.
“It’s an honour and it makes me feel part of the world,” Brandon told CBC’s Edmonton AM. “I get to do something very special.”
He said he wanted to be a part of the games to be around other people who have dwarfism like him.
Growing up, they were bullied and often weren’t able to participate in a lot of group activities.
“We’re proving those haters wrong,” Brandon said. “It shows that we can do anything despite the fact that we are little people.”
Edmonton AM6:49Two brothers are taking their talents overseas for the World Dwarf Games
Later this month Germany will play host to an event called the World Dwarf Games. It’s a sporting event held exclusively for athletes with dwarfism. Canada is sending 50 athletes including Brandon and Jared Vanderlinden from Edmonton.
The two, also known as the Dwarf Duo, will be competing in basketball, soccer, and table tennis. For them, the games are an opportunity to be a part of a team.
Jared said taking part in the games is very fulfilling.
“We don’t really get to do this stuff often, and I think this will be a big part of our lives,” he said.
With their two older brothers — filmmakers Joshua and Benjamin Vanderlinden, co-founders of video production company Story First — the twins are producing a documentary to memorialize their time at the games.
Joshua said in an email that he and Benjamin are in a unique position to tell their younger brothers’ story.
“We’ve seen them go through struggles that we didn’t have to experience,” he said. “But seeing the way the opportunity to be a part of team Canada has motivated them and given them purpose made us want to share that with the world.”
Representing Alberta
The World Dwarf Games is the largest sporting event for athletes with dwarfism where, every four years, more than 500 athletes from over 20 countries come together to compete and promote dwarfism awareness in a supportive environment.
The last event took place in 2017 before being postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fifty Canadians are participating at the event this year. Joshua said the twins are the only ones representing Alberta.
Athletes in the World Dwarf Games will be competing in a variety of sports including basketball, archery, powerlifting, and volleyball.
Joshua said the twins practice their basketball skills every week against people much taller than them.
“They maybe won’t talk about it themselves, but they drop three pointers quite often,” he said.
The games run from July 28 to Aug. 5.
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