Full Notification

The Special Olympic World Games are coming to Los Angeles on Saturday, July 25, 2015.  7000 athletes from 177 countries will be converging on the city.  This is expected to be the largest event in Los Angeles since the 1984 Summer Olympics.  Palmdale is a host city for this event and Olympic contestants from St. Lucia and Cyprus will be staying in town. 

A new venue for the World Olympics is chosen every four years.  The last time the United States was chosen as a host nation was 16 years ago.  To honor this historic event and the athletes who will be participating, the city of Palmdale, the Palmdale Sheriff’s Station and the Antelope Valley Mall, would like to invite the public to a very special event.

On Friday, July 17, 2015, the Olympic Torch, called the Flame of Hope, will be in Palmdale.  An Olympic runner and an international police officer will carry the torch from Summerwind Elementary School to the main entrance of the Antelope Valley Mall.  Once at the mall, a ceremony with dignitaries will be held at 3:00 pm, to raise awareness for the Special Olympics.  The Olympic runner and police officer will explain the significance of the Flame of Hope and the World Olympic Games.  The ceremony is expected to last approximately 30 minutes.

The Flame of Hope began its journey in Athens, Greece, when it was lit on May 14th.  It was transported to Washington DC, where on May 26th, the Flame of Hope was used to light two other flames.  The three Flame of Hope torches are currently touring all 50 states in an event called the Unified Relay Across America.  Traveling west, all three routes will become unified in Los Angeles on July 10th. 

At the conclusion of the Unified Relay, the Flame of Hope will be handed over to the 2015 Law Enforcement Torch Run® for Special Olympics Final Leg Team, it will travel for 13 days to more than 120 cities and towns throughout California, including Palmdale, honoring the spirit of the Special Olympics global movement and delivering a message of hope to communities where people with intellectual disabilities continue to fight for acceptance and inclusion.  

The Final Leg will conclude as the law enforcement officers hand the Flame of Hope to seven Special Olympic athletes representing the seven regions of the world, who will light the official cauldron at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on July 25^th.  ESPN, the official broadcast partner of the World Games, will televise the opening ceremony live as well as a nightly highlights program throughout the nine-day event. 

This is an opportunity to be part of this historic event on a local level.  For more information on this event contact Deputy Omar Chavez 661-272-2587 or Deputy Eric Caplinger at 661-272-2588, or visit our website at www.palmdale.lasd.org .

To follow the Flame of Hope on its journey or to sign-up to be part of the Unified Relay Across America, visit www.unifiedrelay.org . 

For more information on the 2015 Law Enforcement Torch Run® and Final Leg, visit

www.letr-finalleg.org .

For more information about the upcoming 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games, please visit the Games' official website at www.LA2015.org .

By: Sgt. Andrew Nagel

Forwarded by: Deputy Eric Caplinger

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Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department

Palmdale Sheriff’s Station

(661)272-2400

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