Special Olympics Kentucky athletes Roger Kappesser and Jeannie Luerson will skate one final exhibition in Louisville before leaving for the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Nagano , Japan . The exhibition will be part of a send-off evening for the two skaters and a pair of Kentucky coaches who will also represent Team USA . The event will begin at 8 pm on Sunday, February 13 at Alpine Ice Arena on Gardiner Lane in Louisville .
Both Kappesser and Luerson will perform the routines they will skate in Japan prior to a reception where the athletes will meet with well-wishers. The evening also includes a “Moms on Ice” presentation featuring both skaters’ mothers as well as exhibitions by other area skaters.
Local and state dignitaries will also be on hand to help see Kappesser and Luerson, as well as Team USA ice skating coach Lorene Caudill and Team USA head alpine skiing coach Jimmie Johnson off in style. Louisville Metro Director of Recreation Jody Hamilton will represent the city and Deputy Commerce Secretary Derrick Ramsey will represent the Governor’s Office.
The event is open to the public, but RSVPs are requested to Lorene Caudill at 502-473-1500.
The World Winter Games will be held in Nagano , Japan , from February 26-March 5. It will be the first time ever that a Special Olympics World Games event will be held in Asia . More than 2,000 athletes from 80 countries are expected to take part in the Games, making it the biggest sporting event in the World this year. Most of the competitions will take place in the same venues that hosted the Nagano Olympic Games in 1998.
Kappesser, Luerson, Caudill and Johnson will leave Louisville on Sunday, February 20 and make a one-night stop in Los Angeles , where they will join the rest of Team USA . From there, they will travel to Japan and spend several days acclimating themselves to the time change and the area before heading to Nagano for the Opening Ceremonies on February 26. They return to Louisville on March 7.
This is the eighth World Winter Games in Special Olympics history and the third held outside the US (1993-Salzburg and Schladming , Austria ; 1997-Toronto, Ontario , Canada ). The Games are held every four years. The last World Winter Games was held in 2001 in Anchorage , Alaska .
