The torch relay of the 2007 Special Olympics kicked off its final leg in China Tuesday evening.

 

 

Chinese and foreign law enforcement officials and a representative of the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games hold a torch at the Juyongguan section of the Great Wall near Beijing last night during the Law Enforcement Torch Run.

 

Wu Guanzheng, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, ignited the flame during a ceremony at the foot of the Great Wall and declared the Law Enforcement Torch Run in China officially open.

 

The torch will pass through Beijing, Harbin, Dalian, Xi'an, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Wuxi, Guangzhou, Jiaxing, Wenzhou, Nanjing, Hong Kong and Macao before the Special Olympics opens in Shanghai on October 2.

 

Escorted by Special Olympics athletes and police officers, the Flame of Hope had already traveled through Greece, Egypt, Britain, the United States, South Korea, Japan and Australia after it was ignited in Athens, Greece, on June 29.

 

The Special Olympics, which will be held in Shanghai from October 2-11, will bring together some 10,000 athletes and trainers from more than 160 countries and regions.

 

The Special Olympics was established in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver to provide mentally retarded children and adults the opportunity to train for and take part in Olympic sporting events.

 

(Xinhua News Agency September 26, 2007)