The Particular Olympics Flame of Hope™ was lit in a ceremony on the historic Zappeion Megaron in Athens, Greece, on 25 February. This marks the start of its journey to the Particular Olympics World Winter Video games Turin 2025, set to happen between 8 and 15 March.
Italian Minister of Tourism Daniela Santanchè, President of the Piedmont Area Alberto Cirio, Particular Olympics Europe Eurasia President David Evangelista, Particular Olympics Hellas President Dionyssios Kodellas Ambassador advert.h., and Turin 2025 President Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo had been in attendance.
Lit by Excessive Priestess and Particular Olympics Hellas athlete Ilianna Simeonidi, the flame will now journey to Italy, the place it will likely be the focus of the Legislation Enforcement Torch Run® (LETR®) Last Leg. From 1 – 8 March, the torch will go via a number of Italian cities earlier than arriving in Turin for the Opening Ceremony on the Inalpi Enviornment on 8 March.
Turin 2025 will convey collectively 1,500 athletes from 102 delegations, competing throughout eight winter sports activities: alpine snowboarding, cross nation snowboarding, DanceSport, determine skating, floorball, brief monitor velocity skating, snowboarding, and snowshoeing.
“The Flame of Hope represents way over merely the thrilling World Winter Video games forward. It symbolizes the dedication of each Particular Olympics athlete. It signifies the dedication of each coach. It encapsulates the goals of each father or mother, each household. It illustrates the arduous work of so many volunteers world wide.”
David Evangelista, President & Managing Director of Particular Olympics Europe Eurasia
“However, most of all, it embodies the easiest of the human spirit—a spirit that rests in every of us, a spirit that calls out the strongest sense of unity and solidarity. Turin 2025 is a stage not just for athletic achievement however for the triumph of inclusion, dignity, and equality—rules that transcend borders, languages, and cultures.”
Kodellas Ambassador advert.h, added:
“When unwavering dedication meets the problem of sports activities, all obstacles, all difficulties are eradicated. When, on the beginning line, you let your gaze run the course, when at first you depend the breaths you will have till you attain the end line, when on the mountain peak you face the challenges of the huge white expanse stretching earlier than you, nothing can cease you.”
“Our crew, which can quickly depart for Turin, absolutely ready, will unite its enthusiasm with the passion of athletes from everywhere in the world and can present that mental incapacity, from a rugged path that everybody fears, can, with effort, perseverance, and love, turn into a vacation spot that gives nothing however pleasure.”
Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo defined: “A French author and explorer, Alexandra David-Néel, as soon as stated: “Whoever travels with out assembly each other doesn’t journey, they simply transfer.” This can be a metaphor of this torch, whose goal shouldn’t be concerning the end line or the vacation spot, however it’s concerning the journey and what it’ll encounter alongside the way in which. I take a look at this torch and listen to all of the languages of the world talking, I perceive all of them as a result of this flame, which speaks a common language, represents a light-weight of hope for a greater future.
An integral a part of Particular Olympics motion is the Last Leg, a ceremonial run carried out earlier than the Particular Olympics World Summer season and Winter Video games. Throughout this occasion, legislation enforcement officers, serving as Guardians of the Flame®, carry the Flame of Hope, the torch that symbolizes the Particular Olympics, to the Opening Ceremonies. This custom not solely honors the athletes who will compete but in addition celebrates the unity, dedication, and help of the worldwide legislation enforcement neighborhood. The Last Leg represents the fruits of numerous Torch Run occasions worldwide, reinforcing the dedication to making a extra inclusive world for people with mental disabilities.
The LETR Last Leg was added to the seventh Worldwide Summer season Particular Olympics Video games in South Bend, Indiana, USA. The primary Leg carried the Torch from Chicago, the birthplace of Particular Olympics, to the Opening Ceremony of the 1987 Video games.
Mark McCorkle, LETR Govt Council and Last Leg Planning Chairman, stated: “The lighting of the Torch indicators the start of a 12-day journey, the place the Flame of Hope will shine brightly, inspiring all of us to champion the spirit of inclusion and acceptance.”
