Special Olympics Delaware hosts its 49th Annual Summer Games at the University of Delaware’s Athletic Complex this week.
The Summer Games is Special Olympics Delaware’s largest sports event each year and director of media relations Jon Buzby says it’s a big deal.
It’s going to be more than 700 athletes and unified partners and several hundred coaches who have been training for the past 10 weeks," Buzby said.
The Summer Games run from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday with competition in a variety of sports.
“Six sports are going to be contested over the two days - Bocce, tennis, powerlifting, softball and track and field," said Buzby. "So it’s just going to be a wonderful way for our athletes to be able showcase the talents that they have and the work that they put in. And obviously everybody there is going to be vying for that gold medal.”
But Buzby adds the competition is only part of Games' mission.
“Every athlete participates in sports because it’s fun. And so we want to make sure our athletes have fun while they’re there over the two days - two nights - they spend the nights in the dorms, so that’s a great experience for a lot of them. There’s the Olympic Village; there’s Healthy Athletes where they get to go through health-screenings.”
The Summer Games got underway Wednesday night with the 33rd Annual Special Olympics Delaware Law Enforcement Torch Run. That started with a special ceremony at the Rehoboth Beach bandstand and concludes with the “Flame of Hope” arriving at the Summer Games’ opening ceremonies Friday at noon.
All events are free and open to the public. More information on the Special Olympics Delaware Summer Games is available here.
