The 2018 USA Special Olympic Games took place in Seattle July 1-6, 2018, and I was there to shoot them. More than 4,000 athletes and coaches from all 50 states and the District of Columbia competed in 14 different sports across the best facilities in the greater Seattle region. This year’s Games celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Special Olympics movement.
The Opening Ceremony on July 1st, presented by Microsoft, featured the parade of athletes entering Husky Stadium at the University of Washington and entertainment by Charlie Puth, Marshmello, Allen Stone, and (Bellevue’s own) Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Ann Wilson, of Heart! Film and television star Taye Diggs served as MC and, of course, there was the lighting of the Special Olympics Cauldron. I admit I didn’t know who Charlie Puth was until, during rehearsal, I heard him perform that song from Furious 7 that made grown men cry, “See You Again.”
Check out the 2018 Special Olympics from my vantage point.
