{"id":22743,"date":"2026-06-18T16:55:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T16:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=22743"},"modified":"2026-06-18T16:55:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T16:55:00","slug":"wisconsin-powerlifter-with-rare-genetic-disorder-to-compete-at-special-olympics-usa-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=22743","title":{"rendered":"Wisconsin powerlifter with rare genetic disorder to compete at Special Olympics USA Games"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAW) &#8211; Josh Follen will represent Team Wisconsin as their lone male powerlifter at the Special Olympics USA Games, competing in three events after a lifetime of beating the odds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Follen, 40, has cardiofaciocutaneous syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects just 1 in 810,000 babies. He was born unable to breathe and received open heart surgery at 13 months old.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cI never thought he\u2019d get this far, I didn\u2019t even know if he\u2019d live this long,\u201d said Sharon Follen, his mother.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Sharon Follen said she tube fed and bottle fed him at the same time and gave him CPR during his early years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Follen now manages his asthma and will compete in the bench press, deadlift and squat at the USA Games.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">He learned of his selection after competing at the Whitewater Summer Games.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cHe comes out to the car and he says dad, I don\u2019t think I made it, but I had fun doing it,\u201d said Randy Follen, his father. \u201cFriday night we\u2019re sitting there, Josh was watching it come up like hey that\u2019s me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Josh Follen said he was amazed that he got selected and made it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cAll the athletes are my brothers and sisters, and I get along with each and every one of them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Sharon Follen said the Special Olympics community feels like one big family.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">All USA Games events will stream on ESPN, starting with Saturday\u2019s opening ceremony at 7:30 p.m.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsaw.com\/page\/apps\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.wsaw.com\/page\/apps\/\"><i>Click here<\/i><\/a><i> to download the WSAW news app or WSAW First Alert weather app.<\/i><\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsaw.com\/page\/submit-a-news-tip\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.wsaw.com\/page\/submit-a-news-tip\/\"><i>Click here<\/i><\/a><i> to submit a news tip or story idea.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><i>Copyright 2026 WSAW. All rights reserved.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsaw.com\/2026\/06\/18\/wisconsin-powerlifter-with-rare-genetic-disorder-compete-special-olympics-usa-games\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAW) &#8211; Josh Follen will represent Team Wisconsin as their lone male powerlifter at the Special Olympics USA Games, competing in three events after a lifetime of beating the odds. Follen, 40, has cardiofaciocutaneous syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects just 1 in 810,000 babies. He was born unable to breathe and received [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":914,"featured_media":22744,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[273],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-powerlifting-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Wisconsin powerlifter with rare genetic disorder to compete at Special Olympics USA Games - World Bodybuilding News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=22743\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wisconsin powerlifter with rare genetic disorder to compete at Special Olympics USA Games - World Bodybuilding News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAW) &#8211; Josh Follen will represent Team Wisconsin as their lone male powerlifter at the Special Olympics USA Games, competing in three events after a lifetime of beating the odds. Follen, 40, has cardiofaciocutaneous syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects just 1 in 810,000 babies. 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