2005 Law Enforcement Torch Run® for Special Olympics Final Leg 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 2005. [Photo by Yo Nagaya]      Click here to download the 2005 Final Leg Team brochure, with photos and biographical sketches of each team member (Adobe PDF document, 3.7M) During the 2005 Law Enforcement Torch Run® for Special Olympics Final Leg, the Final Leg Team, 133 runners and support staff — including 10 Special Olympics athletes — representing 19 countries carried the torch more than 2,000 kilometers to 66 communities on two separate routes before completing the journey to Olympic Memorial Arena in Nagano City on 26 February 2005 for the Opening Ceremonies of the Eighth Special Olympics World Winter Games. During the ceremony, the cauldron was lit; the mission of the 2005 Final Leg Team was been accomplished and the Games were declared open. "The Special Olympics athletes on the Final Leg team carried the torch more than anyone, and they also took turns speaking at every one of the 70 ceremonies along our journey. The athlete members were truly our leaders and inspiration!" said Michael Teem, 2005 Law Enforcement Torch Run Final Leg Team Captain. "These officers are true Guardians of the Flame," said Shriver. "They come from all over the world to run alongside Special Olympics athletes, and each officer represents thousands more back home who steadfastly support the Special Olympics movement. Likewise, the athletes who run with them epitomize the courage and dedication that our athletes display year-round." Special Olympics athlete Maria Kotti lights the "Flame of Hope" in a ceremony on 15 February in Athens, Greece. The flame was flown by ANA (All Nippon Airways) to Tokyo, Japan, where it journeyd through Japan in the Law Enforcement Torch Run® for Special Olympics Final Leg, arriving in Nagano for the Opening Ceremonies of the 2005 Special Olympics World Winter Games on 25 February. [ © AP Photo/Str. All rights reserved.] As always the Special Olympics "Flame of Hope" began its journey in the land where the Olympics began — it was lit on 15 February 2005 in Athens, Greece. Special Olympics athletes, dressed as ancient priestesses, participated in a carefully replicated lighting ceremony based on the Olympic Flame's kindling that typically takes place in Olympus, Greece, before the start of every new Olympiad. The ceremony is usually held on the sacred site of Pnyx Hill, facing the storied Acropolis, but due to bad weather, the 2005 lighting of the "Flame of Hope" was held in the Atrium of Zappeion Hall in Athensm — also connected with the history of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, having been the main building of the Olympic Village for those Games. In Athens, the journey of the flame began with a trip in an antique car to the Japanese Embassy, it was greeted by Nideo Morita, Chairman, 2005 Special Olympics World Winter Games; Hideaki Yasukawa, Chairman, 2005 Special Olympics World Winter Games Nagano; and Yoshiko Mitsui, Vice Chairperson, Special Olympics Nippon (Japan). The flame, protected in a special miner's lamp, then left to travel more than 9,500 kilometers (nearly 6,000 miles) by air to Tokyo courtesy of ANA (All Nippon Airways). Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi receives the “Flame of Hope” in Tokyo, Japan during the 2005 Final Leg. [PHOTO KISHIMOTO] The flame arrived in Japan on 18 February 2005. It 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. The Final Leg Team also paid a courtesy call on Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi at the Prime Minister's official residence. Prime Minister Koizumi welcomed the team to Japan and said "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...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." 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] 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. A dragon-like figure named "Mr. Holly" (right), who is the mascot of Hollyhock, a local professional soccer team, shares in the fun in the 5 Million Person Torch Run, a nationwide event designed to help raise awareness and support for the Special Olympics movement across Japan. In this event, held in Naka-City, Ibaraki Prefecture (located about 120km north of Tokyo), volunteers working for the Hollyhock soccer team offered valuable assistance in implementing the event. [Photo by Yo Nagaya] Following the Unification Ceremony, the Final Leg began with the group splitting into two teams, one taking a northern route and the other a southern route; they reunited in Nagano City. The Final Leg covered 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 — visited 66 municipalities. Carrying a torch designed specifically for the 2005 World Winter Games, featuring a traditional Japanese landscape and the country's famed cherry blossoms, the team was 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 carried the “Flame of Hope” into M-Wave (Nagano Olympic Memorial Arena) for the Opening Ceremonies of the 2005 Special Olympics World Winter Games. Kae Momota, Special Olympics Nippon (Japan) athlete and Final Leg Team member, proudly represented the Final Leg Team by carrying the torch and "Flame of Hope" into the arena to begin the athlete relay that led to the lighting of the cauldron. There is no doubt that the 2005 Law Enforcement Torch Run Final Leg, and Final Leg Team, championed and furthered the cause of people with intellectual disabilities. Sponsors of the 2005 Final Leg are: FedEx, Columbia Sportswear Company and Midwest Trophy Manufacturing Company. FedEx, Columbia Sportswear Company and Midwest Trophy Manufacturing Company were sponsors of the 2005 Final Leg. Law Enforcement Torch Run Final Leg Team The 2005 Final Leg Team (approximately 125 strong) was made up of law enforcement runners, Special Olympics athletes and Support Team members. Final Leg runners are chosen from Torch Run Programs currently active around the world. Click here to download the 2005 Final Leg Team brochure, with photos and biographical sketches of each team member (Adobe PDF document, 3.7M)      Team Captain Mike Teem North Carolina        Special Olympics Athletes Brian Allred Special Olympics Utah ( USA ) Karen Byrne Special Olympics New Jersey ( USA ) Kyle Gunton Special Olympics Delaware ( USA ) Ruth Hochstrasser Special Olympics North Carolina ( USA ) Tanya McIntosh Special Olympics British Columbia ( Canada ) Kae Momota Special Olympics Japan Mary Murphy Special Olympics Ireland Christopher Perreault Special Olympics Rhode Island ( USA ) Kirk Vaughan Special Olympics Massachusetts ( USA ) Jason Wright Special Olympics Illinois ( USA )        Running Team Leaders Douglas Abraham Colorado (USA) Brian Brunton Ireland Bill Buford Jr. Arkansas (USA) Helen Burns Nova Scotia (Canada) Tim Craig Northern Ireland Roy Forrest North Carolina (USA) Paul Manuel Alberta (Canada) John Newnan Maryland (USA) Michael Peretti Northern California (USA) Gerald Sandoval New Mexico (USA)        Running Team Michael Anderson Florida (USA) Marios Andreou Cyprus John Aonso Gibraltar Robert Barrows Vermont (USA) Louis Beck Mississippi (USA) Michael Beck Indiana (USA) Michael Benson New York (USA) Timothy Burnett Kansas (USA) John Card Michigan (USA) Joseph Carlone Connecticut (USA) Michael Cerame New Jersey (USA) Edward Chen Chinese Taipei Daniel Collis New Hampshire (USA) Mark Daniels Delaware (USA) Michael De Cenzo Hawaii (USA) Frank Cresswell Virginia (USA) Christine Dinham-Jones British Columbia (Canada) Kaoru Edamura Japan Dwayne English Illinois (USA) Lo Tat Fai Hong Kong Edmund Finucane Republic of Ireland Lorie Floyd Wisconsin (USA) Kenneth Fountain Alabama (USA) Brad Freis Texas (USA) Theresa Garagan-Michaluk Alberta (Canada) Daniel Gemmiti Ontario (Canada) Jacek Hachulski Poland James Harrity Pennsylvania (USA) Michael Hennessey California, Southern (USA) Robert Howard Newfoundland/Labrador (Canada) Pamela Icart Rhode Island (USA) Jason Johnson Montana (USA ) Ricky Kieffer Washington (USA) Nikolay Kleshnev Russia Christopher Larotonda Nevada (USA) Dinars Lubins Latvia Katterl Manfred Austria Christopher Marquez New Mexico (USA) Brian McKnight Colorado (USA) Mark McLaughlin California, Northern (USA) Alan McWhirter Northern Ireland Christopher Meyer Minnesota (USA) Tony Miller Arizona (USA) Tadashi Miyairi Japan Ricky Ouber Louisiana (USA) Renald Plamondon Quebec (Canada) Douglas Proud Ohio (USA) Webb Redmond Georgia (USA) Eszter Samu Hungary Ronald Schauer South Dakota (USA) Joey Seeley Maine (USA) Karel Seidl Czech Republic Robert Selby Iowa (USA) Beth Shiers Nebraska (USA) Don Silardi North Carolina (USA) Orhan Sinav Turkey Charles Smits Holland/Netherlands Jeff Spaulding Maryland (USA) Dala Steward Oregon (USA) Don Stewart Australia Calvin Symes Oklahoma (USA) Aidan Taylor Barbados George Tolman Idaho (USA) Dennis Vincent Utah (USA) Randall Werner Missouri (USA) Terry Edward Vrabec Alaska (USA) Robert White Nova Scotia (Canada) William Whittle Wyoming (USA)        Support Team Members Dennis Alldridge Wisconsin (USA) Richard Banahan Missouri (USA) Cheri DeQuattro Special Olympics Headquarters Paul Epstein Hawaii (USA) Robert Hall Utah (USA) Loyd Hamrick Kansas (USA) Lizzi Jay New Mexico (USA) Bruce Mathews New Jersey (USA) Tommy Newman North Carolina (USA) Jeanette Steinfeldt Iowa (USA)        Documentation Team Herb Gelb Pennsylvania (USA)