More than 1,100 athletes and more than 600 coaches and officials turned out at Eastern Kentucky University June 1-3 to help Special Olympics Kentucky celebrate "The Year of the Athlete" at the 2007 Special Olympics Kentucky State Summer Games.

With 16 Kentucky athletes headed to Shanghai, China, in October for the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games, the State Games took on a Chinese feel in order to get all of the athletes into the spirit of the World Games and to help wish the World Games athletes well before they headed overseas.

Opening Ceremonies co-emcees (l-r) Natalie Williams, Ryan Lemond and Marus Cooper welcome the crowd to The Ravine

That Chinese feel was probably not more evident anywhere during the weekend than in an elaborate Opening Ceremonies held on Friday June 1 in The Ravine in the center of the EKU campus. This was the second consecutive year The Ravine hosted the Opening Ceremonies and this year's turned out to be an event that topped most other Openings in recent memory. In addition to featuring a pair of Special Olympics athletes -- Marcus Cooper of Lexington and World Games athlete Natalie Williams of Bowling Green -- working with WLEX-TV's Ryan Lemond as co-emcees of the event, the Ceremonies featured nine thrilling performances of traditional and not so traditional Chinese entertainment. Performances included modern and traditional dance, a musical performance on the Pipa (a traditional Chinese instrument much like a sitar), a martial arts demonstration and a traditional Chinese fashion show. All of the entertainment was coordinated by Lexington resident Hong Shao.

Athletes and coaches from CAKY-Winchester parade in during Opening Ceremonies.

In addition to the tremendous entertainment, the Opening Ceremonies naturally included so many of the elements that make it such a special experience every year. Nearly all of the athletes competing during the weekend paraded into The Ravine with their teams at the beginning of the Ceremonies and near the end of the Ceremonies more than 100 law enforcement personnel from across the state, including a large contingent from Fort Campbell, escorted the "Flame of Hope" into the ravine for the Cauldron lighting that signifies the opening of the Games.

This year, the Flame of Hope was carried into The Ravine by Lieutenant Erika Frederick of the 716th Military Police Battalion at Fort Campbell and Special Olympics Kentucky World Games athlete Matt Minning of Taylor Mill. The pair handed the torch off to Sergeant Albert Merrifield, who lit the Cauldron.

Former UK basketball player Lukasz Obrzut declares the 2007 State Summer Games open.

Three dignitaries also took part in Opening Ceremonies. Once again this year Richmond Mayor Connie Lawson and Eastern Kentucky University president Joanne Glasser were both on hand to welcome athletes, coaches and volunteers to the Summer Games. But one of the biggest honors of the evening was reserved for the Opening Ceremonies' biggest participant. Former University of Kentucky basketball star Lukasz Obrzut, or "Woo" as he is better known, was on hand to declare the Games open.

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Once the Games were declared open, the athletes didn't waste any time beginning their competitions. All of the athletes competing in distance races or relays headed straight to the track. Minning continued his early involvement in the Games, winning the 5,000-meter run in a time of just over 21 minutes.

Kenny King of Nicholasville closes out his gold medal-winning performance in the 200-meter dash.

Whereas a handful of athletes got the chance to compete right away on Friday night, everybody swung into action on Saturday, June 2 as all five Summer Games sports (track and field, swimming, gymnastics, powerlifting and soccer) sent athletes to the track, fields, mats and water. In all, close to 2,000 medals and thousands more ribbons were presented to athletes for their accomplishments during the competition.

One of the most exciting competitions of the day came at the track in the Pentathlon, which had a near-record 13 athletes competing. This year's Pentathlon also included a women's division for the first time. There were also several younger athletes entered.

Christy Farwell makes an attempt during the high jump portion of the Pentathlon.

The women's division came down to the final event — the 400-meter run — to determine a champion as 2007 World Games athlete Crystal Maston of Bowling Green edged her friend and 2006 USA National Games track teammate Christy Farwell of Alexandria by just 13 points. Binet School in Louisville dominated the men's Pentathlon divisions, with Nick Clark, Donovan English and Zack Brown each winning their division. Jacob Reynolds, a 13-year-old from Clark County Special Olympics and the youngest Pentathlete scored 791 points in his first Pentathlon effort to finish fourth in his division.

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One of the day's most exciting moments came at the pool, where after a terrific battle Katie Croom of Area 4 Dolphins (Louisville) and Morgan Breeze of the Frankfort Sunfish finished in a dead heat in the 25-meter freestyle, both covering the one-lap distance in 23.25 seconds. There were two more extremely close races later in the day in the women's divisions of the same event, with Leticia Miller of Stewart Home School (Frankfort) nipping Gerry Burch of the Louisville Stingrays by just .4 seconds and Allison Vise of the Stingrays edging Paula Allen of Bowling green by just .29 seconds.

The men didn't disappoint in the pool either. The day's closest non-dead heat finish came between Louisville Stingrays teammates Corey Morgan and Michael Bush. Morgan just out-touched Bush, winning by a mere .08 seconds.

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Willie Kirby of Bowling Green completes a deadlift on his way to the highest score of the day at the powerlifting venue.

At the powerlifting venue, four athletes topped the 300-pound mark for their combined bench press and deadlift. Willie Kirby of Bowling Green led the way with a combined total of 360.88 pounds, followed closely by David Fogle of Daviess County Special Olympics who lifted a combined 360.35 pounds. Jason Evans (336.61) and Billy Joe Anderson (303.02), both of Bowling Green, also topped the mark.

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The soccer fields added their own drama, specifically in the 2A/3A and 1A divisions. In the second game of the best-of-three 2A/3A series the Northern Kentucky Rebels forced a shootout with the East End (Louisville) Travelers, winning to stay alive after dropping the first game. East End took the gold medal, however, after winning game three.

Lamont Taylor of the Louisville Cheetahs takes the ball upfield.

In the 1A Division Championship Game, the Louisville Cheetahs and the Stewart Home School Panthers went even farther. The teams ended up in a shootout after being tied through the end of regulation and overtime. Then they were still tied after the mandatory five shootout attempts and went to sudden death penalty kicks before Stewart Home School broke through to win the gold medal.

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While all of the other athletes were showing their skills in Richmond, the gymnasts headed to Legacy Gymnastics in Richmond to hit the mats. There the best competition came in the men's All-Around where USA NAtional Games Gold Medallist Phillip Riley of Frankfort was barely able to hold off his friend and cheerleading teammate Shon Newton of Lexington by just .2 points.

Gold Medallist Lee Dockins of Russellville will next compete at the World Summer Games in Shanghai, China.

In the women's divisions, 2007 World Games selection Lee Dockins of Russellville finished with a gold medal in the All-Around in her final competition before heading to China.

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In addition to all of the competitions, athletes could spend time on Saturday in Olympic Town presented by Anthem, where there were games, food and other activities for the athletes to fill time between events. Athletes could also receive free medical screenings in the Healthy Athletes wellness village that included eye, dental, podiatric and physical therapy screening checks.

Our thanks to everyone who made the 2007 Special Olympics Kentucky State Summer Games such a tremendous success, especially the hundreds of event volunteers and the many sponsors — Special Olympics Official Partners Kroger, The Law Enforcement Torch Run, Six Flags and Texas Roadhouse; as well as Games sponsors American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary, Anthem, Eastern Kentucky University, TrinSoft, McDonald's of Richmond, O'Charley's Community Alternatives of Kentucky and Commonwealth Community Bank.

We hope you can join us for the 2008 State Summer Games. For more information about the Games, contact Special Olympics Kentucky Executive Vice President Trish Mazzoni at 800-633-7403 or via e-mail at tmazzoni@soky.org. For sponsorship information, contact Senior Marketing Director Kelly Hutchinson at 800-633-7403 or khutchinson@soky.org.