‘In that moment’: Wiscasset’s Anna McDougal inducted into Maine Sports Hall of Fame

Anna McDougal said being inducted into the Maine Sports Hall of Fame last month was one of the best moments of her life.

The Wiscasset woman said skiing in the 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Austria was awesome, and a big deal, “but I think this was more of a big deal.”

She loved the Hall’s induction ceremony, including the heavy trophy and the standing ovation she and the other inductees got, McDougal, 45, shared in a phone interview Monday. 

She said her whole family was at the ceremony; so were her ski coach Connie French-Smith, Special Olympics Maine and Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows. In a same-day post at x.com, Bellows called McDougal’s induction historic, a first for a Special Olympics athlete in Maine.

Last January, the Hall announced this year’s inductees to be. And McDougal said Monday, as a result of being part of the Hall’s Class of 2024, she has a new friend, fellow 2024 inductee Kissy Walker, the award-winning Husson College basketball coach.

“It’s nice to have a friend I can relate to about sports, someone who understands me,” McDougal said.

In the 2017 Games, McDougal won silver in Alpine novice slalom and bronze in Alpine novice giant slalom. 

Her favorite memories from the Sept. 15 Maine Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony, at Portland’s Merrill Auditorium, were having her family there and the standing ovation. “That meant a lot to me.”

Giving her speech, she got to talk about determination, being prepared and her love of skiing, she said. “I think my speech was very powerful because I showed a lot of emotions, and I just wanted to cry, because I was so happy in that moment. And all of the inductees, they were in that moment, too. That’s what I loved about it.”

What’s next for the artist, author and advocate for people with disabilities? McDougal’s latest book, “Ski Dreams,” is still set to come out. McDougal said it will be paired with her earlier autobiography, “A Look Back,” about growing up with Down Syndrome. “Two books in one.”

And she will keep on skiing, for her love of it and always in loving memory of her grandfather Harry Shartar, who was proud of her skiing.