Josh Anderson, formerly of Troy, was recently named Athlete of the Year by Special Olympics Montana. The award was announced on Sept. 20 in conjunction with the organization’s annual Fall Leadership Conference.

Josh was born with a very rare condition that affects 1 in 50,000 children. After years of occupational and speech therapy, Josh started participating in Special Olympics in 2001. He now competes in a number of sporting events, including alpine skiing, cycling, running, bowling, basketball, unified bowling, unified basketball and kayaking.

Josh served on the Special Olympics Montana board of directors from 2004 to 2006, represented Montana and the United States at the 2005 Global Athlete Conference in Panama and competed in the 2006 USA Games as part of Montana’s Unified Basketball Team.

Josh is viewed as a leader and inspiration for other athletes in Special Olympics. He works as an administrative assistant at Special Olympics Montana headquarters, when he is not engaged in fundraising and advocacy work for Special Olympics.