COLUMBIA, S.C. — Hundreds of athletes and their families gathered at Fort Jackson for the start of the 2024 South Carolina Special Olympics summer games.
It’s a jam-packed weekend for Jan Abercrombie, she’s one of hundreds of athletes partaking in this year's South Carolina Special Olympics Games
“My favorite part is doing track and field, I’ve done bocce," She says.
Things kicked off in downtown Columbia as the torch was run down Main Street. Keith Thrower with the Law Enforcement Torch Run says they include law enforcement from around the state.
“We had officers from Mount Pleasant PD, Georgetown, A lot of Richland County came out came out to support, the City Of Columbia, obviously, SLED," he says.
Athletes began pouring into the Solomon center on base around 6 p.m. Then at 8 p.m., the opening ceremony kicked off, with hundreds of Fort Jackson Cadets welcoming them into the arena.
Barry Coates, the president and CEO of Special Olympics South Carolina, says the games will be held all day Saturday around Fort Jackson.
“Over 800 coaches and athletes and unified partners out there this weekend participating in bocce, in bowling, in swimming, and aquatics, track and field, powerlifting A couple of other sports, it’s just a fantastic weekend. We love of the community came out and cheered these athletes on," he says.
Dianna Rossum the area director with Oconee and Pickens County, says the games are all about making everyone feel like they have a place.
“You want to include everybody so we have all different levels of sports. They Don’t necessarily have to be on the team they can just be in a skilled development program, so it encompasses everybody from the age of eight on up," she adds “it opens a whole new world for A lot of our athletes.”
The events will begin kicking off Saturday at 9 a.m.