For Immediate Release: January 22, 2001
Law Enforcement Officers will Participate in the 2001 Final Leg Torch Run for Special Olympics
Officers from around the world will converge on Alaska to deliver the Flame of Hope to the 2001 Special Olympics world Winter Games
Washington, DC—More than 100 law enforcement officers from around the world will comprise the Final Leg Team of the Law Enforcement Torch Run® for Special Olympics and will ensure the arrival of the Flame of Hope to the 2001 Special Olympics World Winter Games which will happen March 4-11 in Anchorage, Alaska. The International Law Enforcement Torch Run Final Leg is held prior to each Special Olympics World Games.
"These officers are true Guardians of the Flame and exemplify the support and dedication that thousands of law enforcement officers around the world offer to the Special Olympics Movement," said Timothy P. Shriver, President & CEO of Special Olympics, Inc. "This first International Final Leg Torch Run of the new millennium will help light the way for Special Olympics.
On February 17, 2001 in Athens, Greece, the Flame of Hope will be lit in the ancient Olympic tradition at the sacred site of Pnyx. The journey of the Flame of Hope will then begin by a torch relay of Special Olympics athletes and law enforcement officers to the United States Embassy in Athens. The flame will then travel by air to Anchorage, Alaska via the North Pole.
The Final Leg Team will gather in Anchorage, Alaska, on February 28 and will spend the following four days on a series of intrastate relays, visiting towns, schools, and businesses throughout Alaska. On March 4, in full police dress uniform, the Final Leg Team will deliver the Flame of Hope to the Opening ceremonies of the 2001 Special Olympics World Games. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the cauldron will be lit, the symbolic mission of the 2001 Final Leg Team will have been accomplished and the Games will be declared open.
The Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics is the largest grassroots fund-raising and public-awareness vehicle for Special Olympics in the world. Each year officers carry the Flame of Hope through the streets of their hometowns and countries and deliver it to their local, state, or national Special Olympics Games. The International Association of Chiefs of Police is the founding law enforcement organization of the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics. Every two years, law enforcement officers representing their state or nation's Torch Run program comprise a Final Leg Team which carries the Olympic Flame into Opening Ceremonies of the Special Olympics World Games. This is the first year that 10 Special Olympics athletes will help comprise the Final Leg Team.
More than 2,750 athletes and coaches from more than 75 counties will travel to Anchorage, Alaska to participate in the 2001 Special Olympics World Winter Games. Special Olympics athletes will compete in seven different winter sports; cross country skiing, Alpine skiing, speed skating, figure skating, floor hockey, snowshoe racing and snowboarding.
Special Olympics is an international year-round program of sports training and competition for individuals with mental retardation. More than one million athletes in over 160 countries train and compete in 25 Olympic-type summer and winter sports. Founded in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Special Olympics provides people with mental retardation continuing opportunities to develop fitness, demonstrate courage, and experience joy as they participate in the sharing of gifts and friendship with their families and community. There is no cost to participate in Special Olympics.
Visit Special Olympics online at www.specialolympics.org or on AOL (Keyword: Special Olympics).
Contact: Kirsten Suto, Special Olympics, Inc., (202) 824-0303, ksuto@specialolympics.org.