The absence of field events from day four of the athletics programme failed to dampen the spirits of competitors and spectators alike as Santry's Morton Stadium was treated to another exhilarating day of competition and brilliant sunshine.
The packed schedule was today restricted to track events only - in which the African and Canadian athletes dominated - but the fanfare and enthusiasm generated inside Ireland's leading athletics venue rebounded from the north end of the ground to the south with tremendous energy.
School children formed the bulk of the crowd, spurring the athletes on from every vantage point but their loudest cheers were reserved for the bubbly stadium announcer when she jested: "Would you rather be at home doing your homework?" Heartfelt cries of "No, No Way" filled the air.
Some 90 children from Gael Scoil Cholmcille, Santry set the tone for the afternoon by mobbing members of the Barbados and South African teams for autographs. The athletes, bowled over by their new found fame, stood bewildered signing scraps of paper and baseball caps for 30 minutes. The children returned to their teachers up in the stands behind, chuffed to bits. The athletes skipped back to the changing area even more so.
"The children love it," explained one of the teachers. "They wanted to come here themselves to see all the wonderful athletes but especially to collect autographs from all over the world."
Latvia, despite a relatively small contingent competing today, were notably well represented in the north terrace with a sizeable gathering from host town Kells, Co Meath making the trip to Dublin.
Mary Carr, who hosts two Latvian athletes and one coach, told how she left the Co Meath town at 6.30 a.m. She set up camp in the Morton Stadium at 8.30 a.m. and "thoroughly enjoyed the day's competition."
John Grimes quipped how he had been reluctant to wave the Latvian flag around Kells in recent days. "They're the Westmeath colours," he joked, "sure I couldn't being doing that down there, now could I!"
Head coach of Team Ireland Athletics, Phyllis Gilliland, is visibly one of the busiest people around the track, caring for and organising her athletes while juggling the many interview requests in between.
The love and enthusiasm for her team shines through when she reveals one of her key objectives of the week. "Some of my athletes are really fascinated by the hairstyle's of the African girls, the plats and the spiral hair dos. They want me to photograph them with those girls!."
Her "mission" typifies the spirit of the Special Olympics.
On the track, Moira Moran (15) finished strongly after a sluggish start to claim a deserved bronze medal in the 400m Division 3 final.
Aine Lawler (19), the subject of a documentary following her progress throughout the games, tied up in the closing stages of the 400m Division 7 final and was desperately unlucky to miss out on bronze as Singapore's Yuhan Wang raced up her outside at the line.
Earlier, in the 4x100m replay preliminary round, Moran, running the final leg, lifted Ireland into third spot behind Canada while the men's team finished sixth behind Venezuela.