Officers to Run Special Olympics Torch Through Mission Viejo

Submitted by the City of Mission Viejo

The Law Enforcement Torch Run for the Special Olympics World Games Los Angeles 2015 will come through Mission Viejo on July 19 with a celebration at Florence Joyner Olympiad Park.

The Special Olympics Flame of Hope will complete its journey on July 25. The final leg team will carry the flame into the opening ceremony of the 2015 World Games and will ignite the cauldron at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where the 1932 and 1984 Olympic Games were held.

The torch run in Mission Viejo will take law enforcement members and Special Olympics athletes from the start/finish line of the 1984 Olympic bike race just north of Lake Mission Viejo on Olympiad Road to the park at 22760 Olympiad Road. The 3 p.m. ceremony will feature two-time Olympian Brian Goodell, Special Olympic athletes, the final leg runner and officials from the City and Mission Viejo Police Services. Joseph Gorin, the 2015 World Games global messenger, will also be on hand along with two-time Olympic champion Carolyn Shuler Jones.

The celebration comes just days before the Mission Viejo Host Town program kicks off on July 21. Throughout the three-day program leading up to the Special Olympics World Games, the City will host nearly 200 athletes from Spain and Indonesia. The athletes will receive lodging, transportation, activities, meals and use of athletic facilities.

Community members are invited to the July 19 Mission Viejo Torch Run ceremony and are encouraged to sport red, white and blue in honor of the Host Town program.

More information about the Host Town Program is available athttps://support.la2015.org/checkout/donation?eid=39078. For more information about the Law Enforcement Torch Run, which is the Special Olympics’ largest grass-roots fundraiser and public awareness vehicle in the world, visit http://www.letr-finalleg.org/.