(Radio Iowa) – This year’s Special Olympics Iowa Summer Games have been cancelled due to COVID-19 but spokeswoman Karen Whitman says they -do- plan to hold a Virtual Summer Games instead. “What that will entail is a month-long sports competition during the month of May,” Whitman says, “and then at the end of the month, we will be having healthy athlete screening experiences, a virtual series that will hold some other activities, and then we will also have our Opening Ceremonies on May 26th.”

It’s expected there will be about one-thousand participants from across the state participating in this year’s games, for events that usually draw four-to-five-thousand athletes to Ames each summer. Whitman says the virtual format isn’t as good as being in-person, but it will have to do. “Some of it will be done on Zoom,” she says. “We will be having all of those registration links come out at the beginning of May and then some of it will be based off of our Facebook page, which is Special Olympics Iowa.”

Whitman is hopeful for an in person format for the games returning in 2022. Learn more about this year’s events at: soiowa.org