PHOTOS: 2024 Special Olympics Florida State Summer Games

Sports
Game Film

Special Olympics Florida held its annual State Summer Games on May 17-18 at ESPN Wide World of Sports and the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona. The two-day event drew more than 2,300 participants from across Florida, competing in seven different sports: track and field, basketball, soccer, bocce ball, cycling, cheerleading, and tennis.

The State Summer Games, one of Special Olympics Florida’s largest competitive events, also featured a spectacular opening ceremony.

Special Olympics Florida was founded in 1972 and provides year-round sports training and competition, crucial health services, and life-changing leadership programs to children and adults with intellectual disabilities; serving more than 70,000 Special Olympics athletes annually, at no cost to athletes or their families.

Sam Albuquerque

A native of João Pessoa, Brazil, Sam Albuquerque moved in 1997 to Central Florida as a kid. After earning a communications degree in 2016 from the University of Central Florida, he started his career covering sports as a producer for a local radio station, ESPN 580 Orlando. He went on to earn a master’s degree in editorial journalism from Northwestern University, before moving to South Carolina to cover local sports for the USA Today Network’s Spartanburg Herald-Journal. When he’s not working, you can find him spending time with his lovely wife, Sarah, newborn son, Noah, and dog named Skulí.