RUMFORD – John Danforth of Litchfield is more at home on a tractor mowing lawns than figuring out Nordic skis on a ski slope. He even owns his own business – John’s Lawn Service – and will be hiring another employee this summer, he said. But, on Tuesday, the talkative 16-year-old Oak Hill High School student was competing in his first Special Olympics Winter Games at Black Mountain of Maine ski area in Rumford.

It wasn’t pretty, but his enthusiasm and never-give-up attitude are the epitome of Special Olympics Maine.

“Finally, I got a sport I know I can do, and I’ve got the guts to do it, so I did it,” Danforth said, struggling to stand upright while waiting with teammates for another go at the 100-meter race.

Dressed in a brown jumpsuit and a bright orange Dale Earnhardt cap, the first-time skier said his strategy in the first 100-meter event was to just get up, which he did quite a bit of during both the 100- and 500-meter Nordic races.

“I did it! I did it!” he yelled from the ground after losing his balance in the first heat, flying across the 100-meter finish line – sans ski poles – and falling over backward. He lost the poles in snow after starting too aggressively and falling just beyond the starting gate.

Unlike Danforth, Special Olympics Winter Games are old hat for Keith Draper, 35, of Greene, and team John F. Murphy Homes Inc. of Auburn. Mom, Joan Draper of Greene, said her mentally-challenged son has been competing in Special Olympics games since he was 4. On Tuesday afternoon, he ran snowshoe races, making it look easy.

“He swims, he bowls, he does track in the summer, he plays softball, and he snowboards at Lost Valley,” she said. “He competes in just about everything he can. Today, I watched him fall down three times, and he got up and kept going. Me, I would have given up.”

Keith Draper is also one of four Special Olympics Maine athletes chosen to join Special Olympics Team USA on Oct. 2-11 in the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai, China. His teammates are, Kala Sue Emery of Minot, Jacquelyn A. Guiseley of Raymond and Robin A. Sibley of Bangor.

“I’m real proud of him,” Joan Draper said.

Tuesday’s alpine, Nordic and snowshoe competitions at Black Mountain determine final heats for Wednesday’s races, which start at 9 a.m.

Despite a picture-perfect, balmy, blue-sky day, Tuesday’s crowd was sparse, but noisy during the laid-back games for Androscoggin and Franklin county athletes. There were 102 athletes from 19 teams competing, socializing, and enjoying snowmobile rides with the Livermore Trail Blazers.

The games began after Charles Noyes Jr. of Franklin County team ASI and Androscoggin County athlete Scott Wilson of Lisbon High School carried in and lighting the Special Olympics torch, culminating opening ceremonies.

Special Olympics Maine holds two Winter Games each year: the first at Sugarloaf/USA in Carrabassett Valley last month; and the second, at Black Mountain, for counties that have to sit out the Sugarloaf games because there isn’t enough lodging for every Special Olympics team and their entourages.