Hundreds of athletes will gather at the University of Northern Colorado Saturday to compete in the Special Olympics State Summer Games.
This is the biggest event of the year for Special Olympics Colorado, and organizers say turnout will be the largest to date, with nearly 800 athletes competing. Saturday’s event is a culmination of statewide events.
“Our athletes train for 6 to 8 weeks prior to this; they also have to compete at an area-level event in order to qualify to come to the state event,” says Jenny Chase, Competition and Education Manager for Special Olympics Colorado. “So it is a big deal for all of our athletes – they have worked really hard and have competed already at the area level to make it on to state.”
A full day of competition starts at 9:00 a.m. Saturday with track and field events at the UNC Greeley campus, as well as the swim competition at in Loveland, and gymnastics in Windsor. All events, including the closing ceremonies and victory celebration, are free and open to the public.
This is the 42nd year for the Special Olympics Colorado State Summer Games, and the ninth consecutive year that it’s been held at UNC.
