Special Olympians carry Flame of Hope across South Dakota ahead of state games

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - Law enforcement officers teamed up with Special Olympics athletes for a journey across South Dakota.

“The torch run is a group of officers and a couple of athletes with Special Olympics that travel across the state to raise awareness and to meet some of the athletes in preparation and lead up to the games and so we’ve been stopping a few places West River today and are off to Pierre after this next stop,” said Scott Price, a Watertown Police sergeant.

Throughout the four days of the Torch Run, law enforcement officers, along with two athletes, run the “Flame of Hope” through 19 cities in South Dakota to spread awareness for the Special Olympics. Price says the efforts don’t stop there.

“So we do a variety of different fundraisers throughout the year, this is our biggest awareness event obviously by traveling as much as we do and stopping at different locations but the fundraising is a year-round effort,” said Price.

Jeff Klock, a Special Olympic athlete from Sioux Falls, says the Torch Run is a way for him and his team to get pumped for the games this weekend.

“It’s just going to be a lot of fun to see and to see other people cheering us on, it’s very fun to see that,” said Klock.

The State Summer Special Olympics games will be held May 16 through May 18 at the University of South Dakota.

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.

Copyright 2024 KEVN. All rights reserved.