Local athletes will compete in Special Olympics Saturday

Georgetown, Ky. – The Special Olympics Kentucky Area 8 Track and Field Meet will return to Great Crossing High School in Georgetown on Saturday, April 11. The Area 8 Meet includes nearly 150 athletes from Bourbon, Clark, Estill, Fayette, Franklin, Harrison, Jessamine, Lincoln, Madison, Mercer, Montgomery, Scott and Woodford Counties. The event will get underway with Opening Ceremonies at 9:00 a.m. Competition begins at 9:30.

This is the first of three weekends of the Special Olympics Area Track and Field season, which concludes May 9 in Louisville.

The Area 8 Track and Field Meet is one of eight regional meets held statewide this year. In all, more than 1,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities throughout the state are expected to participate in area track and field competitions this year.

Participants in the Area 8 Meet are competing for the opportunity to advance to the Special Olympics Kentucky State Summer Games to be held June 5-7 at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond.

The Special Olympics Kentucky track and field season is made possible by the support of our Year-Round Partners Jersey Mike’s, Texas Roadhouse and Toyota.

For more information about the Area 8 Track and Field Meet or about the Special Olympics track and field program, contact Special Olympics Sports Program Manager Kathy Marshall at 502-695-8222 or via e-mail at kmarshall@soky.org.

Special Olympics is the world’s largest program of sports training and competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. Participation in competitive events is open to all individuals eight years of age or older. Training and competition in local, area, state, and national programs is offered year-round in Kentucky in 15 sports. In addition to its traditional sports competitions, Special Olympics also offers early childhood programming through the Young Athletes Program and medical screenings though the Healthy Athletes Initiative. Special Olympics Kentucky began as a one-day event in Louisville in 1970 and has expanded to serve nearly 11,000 athletes statewide annually. Special Olympics celebrated the 55^th Anniversary of the global movement in 2023.