The countdown is on for the National Winter Games Haslital Brienz 2024: the Special Olympics torch has arrived in Meiringen. Two lake police officers, the Fackelträger association, children from the Matten and Brienz schools, members of the two Axalp and Brienz ski clubs, and athletes from the region visited several sports venues of the National Winter Games for people with disabilities with the torch. The route led from Interlaken Matten via lake police boat to Brienz and from there on foot to Hofstetten and finally to Meiringen. The torchbearers were accompanied by dialect pop singer Trauffer and the two successful Curling professionals Michel Sven and Alina Pätz (World Championship bronze and gold) and cheered on by a large audience along the way.
With this very torch, two athletes from Special Olympics will light the Flame of Hope on the Casinoplatz in Meiringen on March 14, 2024, during the opening ceremony of the National Winter Games.
The torch run has a long tradition at Special Olympics. As “Guardians of the Flame”, members of police authorities from all over the world, together with Special Olympics athletes, carry the “Flame of Hope” to the opening ceremonies of National or World Games. The flame symbolizes courage and diversity and unites communities around the globe. In Switzerland, the LETR has been carried out for 10 years and, thanks to close cooperation with the IPA (International Police Association), has become a cherished tradition among the athletes of Special Olympics Switzerland.
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