ATHENS, June 20 -- The official delegations of Special Olympics athletes, staff and coaches have begun to arrive in Athens from all over the world to the official Delegation Welcome Center at the Metropolitan Expo, full of enthusiasm and great expectations for the upcoming Games, the organizers said here Monday in a statement.
As of now, 2812 people have arrived from more than 58 countries and regions. The rest of the delegations are expected to arrive over the next day and some have arrived directly at their host town elsewhere in Greece, said the statement.
These delegations have already departed for their host town program cities including Rhodes, Crete, Evia, the Ionian Islands, Cyprus and Macedonia and cities across mainland Greece.
The local organizing committees welcomed them with love and with traditional Greek hospitality.
Hoteliers have provided free rooms to all of these delegations, which is a very noble gesture to welcome these delegations for free during the height of the tourist season for Greece.
In total more than 25,000 hotel room nights will have been donated during the host town program.
The host town program is a special event of the Games. Delegations from around the world will be hosted for four days throughout the 13 regions of Greece prior to their arrival in Athens for the Games.
Through a series of sporting, cultural and artistic events, Special Olympics athletes will have the opportunity to adapt to a new environment, to experience the Greek culture, to enjoy the natural beauty and traditional cuisine, as well as train before the Games.
From June 25 to July 4 in Athens, 7,500 Special Olympics Athletes from 185 nations and districts will compete in 22 Olympic- type sports.
Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year- round training and competitions to more than 3.1 million athletes in 175 countries and regions.
The first International Special Olympics Summer Games were held at Soldier Field in Chicago in 1968.