The starter pistol fires. And they're off.
Area 3 Special Olympics Arkansas athletes crowded the track and field at Ramay Junior High and brought the energy. The competitors faced off in athletics, powerlifting and bocce ball.
Alex Davis is a swimmer in the Special Olympics and is part of Team USA heading to the 2026 Games in Minnesota, so he wasn't competing yesterday. But he was still all smiles as a volunteer. He says the Olympics' impact on him has changed over the years.
"It certainly has changed, but right now it's given the opportunity to show these athletes their abilities and not focus on their disabilities, and to give them an opportunity to show their skills in an environment that is purely positive, where everyone's here to cheer each other on and support each other. There's always good sportsmanship, there's never any negativity, and it's a good way to come out here and support these athletes and to encourage them to come out and keep on doing what they're doing."
Preparations for yesterday's games began back in September. Keeshia Geurian is the development coordinator for Area 3 and says it takes a lot of people to make events like this happen.
"We do have to have volunteers — that's how we lean on our community. Our actual team is made of 11 people. Outside of that, we lean on the community, we lean on our volunteers to help us put this together. We have John L. who helps run this event. He's the one that puts it together. He gets all the community a part of it. That's what we need — more people like that who want to just be involved and be invested and be here."
Fayetteville Public Schools staff and students turned out en masse to help out yesterday. Former Superintendent John L Colbert is heavily involved in Special Olympics and says he's witnessed the games' positive impacts on athletes competing and students volunteering.
"As I look at the different athletes from Fayetteville High School, when they interact with the athletes, it's just wonderful. You can see that they, too, are so excited that they are here making a difference, helping someone else to succeed and participate. Even that piece is so important to me. I love seeing that — it's contagious. They just get so excited about the fact that they are here to help and make sure the games are carried out."
Jason Edwards is co-director of Northwest Arkansas Special Olympics. He says this isn't the only event for Area 3 athletes in 2026 and further emphasized just how much it takes to put these events on, which are all free of charge for participants, thanks to community fundraising efforts like the Polar Plunge and Law Enforcement Torch Run.
"It just takes everybody. Like Dr. Colbert said, the volunteers — but all the athletes who help, and we've got an athlete leadership group who comes out and helps get athletes ready, all the coaches, and then just the athletes themselves. It takes months in advance. This is kind of the biggest event — it's like the Super Bowl of the year for Special Olympics as we finish up the year. It's a great event, but it does take many, many, many people to put it on. And we thank everyone for helping us be successful in this event."
Colbert says that energy and enthusiasm keep him coming back.
"I've been doing this about 50-some years, and it just gets better every year. Every time I turn around and see the athletes coming out — with basketball, they're there having a great time. Like Jason said, this is one of the biggest events in Area 3. And then to see them go from basketball to swimming, and then now to track and field — they're all pumped up, they're excited, ready to get out there and compete. It's just wonderful. They believe in their marches: 'If I cannot win, just give me the courage to be a winner.' And they're out there doing the job. I love it."
Olympian Alex Davis says it's not only an important day that a lot of people worked hard to put on — it's also just a blast to watch.
"I always love watching the wheelchair races. When they come out and come through, they're always so happy and so excited, and when they come up to get their medals, it's always so amazing to watch them roll up the ramps. Those are always my favorite — all the little ones when they come down here from the elementary schools and the middle schools to come do their race. It's always fun to watch them."
You can visit specialolympicsarkansas.org for more.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a rush deadline and edited for length and clarity. Copy editors utilize AI tools to review work. KUAF does not publish content created by AI. Please reach out to kuafinfo@uark.edu to report an issue. The audio version is the authoritative record of KUAF programming.
