Members of the Torch Run Final Leg Team carry the "Flame of Hope" to a Welcoming Ceremony at Tokyo's Metropolitan Square on 18 February. (Photo by Yo Nagaya)
As the Final Leg Team makes its way across Japan, crowds of people waving flags greet them at every stop. (Photo by Wataru Abe/PHOTO KISHIMOTO)
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The 2005 Law Enforcement Torch Run® for Special Olympics Final Leg is underway. More than 100 law enforcement officers, 10 Special Olympics athletes and 10 support team members are making their way across Nagano Prefecture on their way to Nagano City for the Opening Ceremonies of the 2005 Special Olympics World Winter Games on 26 February.
Their journey began on 20 February as the group split into two teams, one taking a northern route and the other a southern route; they will reunite in Nagano City. Each team is carrying a torch lit from the “Flame of Hope,” ignited in Athens, Greece, in a special ceremony on 15 February. The flame, protected in a special miner’s lamp, was then flown to Tokyo, Japan, where it arrived on 18 February.
The flame was greeted by Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara and World Winter Games Chairman Hideaki Yasukawa on 18 February in an exciting arrival ceremony in Tomin Hiroba (front square) of Tokyo’s Metropolitan Square in the city’s Shinjuku Ward, home to Tokyo’s tallest building, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office. Before beginning its journey to Nagano, the torch also made appearances at the National Police Agency, Outer Garden of the Imperial Palace and the Tokyo Fire Department.
Before leaving Tokyo, the Final Leg Team paid a courtesy call on Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi at the Prime Minister's official residence. Upon receiving the team, Prime Minister Koizumi said, "Welcome to the Prime Minister's Official Residence. I extend my cordial welcome to you all. I would like to express my heartfelt respect and gratitude to all of you who have worked hard to realize the Special Olympics World Winter Games in Nagano Prefecture which will start next week. I, together with you, wish that the Games will end in a success, as athletes taking part will realize your support of and efforts for Special Olympics."
The next stop for the Flame was Matsumoto City, Japan, on 19 February. There, is a Unification Ceremony at Matsumoto Castle, one of Japan’s cultural landmarks, the “Flame of Hope” was combined with the “Flame of Friendship” from the Five Million Person Torch Run, a nearly six-month-long awareness-raising effort across Japan. Since September 2004, runners carried the Special Olympics torch through more than 200 locations in 47 prefectures across Japan to foster understanding and raise awareness of Special Olympics. The Five Million Person Torch Run also was designed to promote inclusion and acceptance of differences, to educate people about volunteering and to support the 2005 Special Olympics World Winter Games.
Following the Unification Ceremony, the Final Leg began on 20 February and will cover 2,603 km (1,425 mi.) through Nagano Prefecture, the fourth-largest prefecture in the country. Along the way, the two Final Leg teams – representing 19 countries in all – will visit 66 municipalities. Carrying a torch (specially designed for the 2005 World Winter Games) that features a traditional Japanese landscape and the country’s famed cherry blossoms, the team has been cheered along the way by flag-waving crowds and greeted by school children, bands and special welcome events.
On 26 February 2005, the Final Leg Team will carry the “Flame of Hope” into M-Wave (Nagano Olympic Memorial Arena) for the Opening Ceremonies of the 2005 Special Olympics World Winter Games.
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