BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana Special Olympics are this weekend and LSU's campus played a key part in the lead-up when athletes and law enforcement participated in the "Flame of Hope" torch run Wednesday.

Organizers expressed how impactful this event can be for the athletes.

"It's really about the athletes... We have several athletes who came out here with us and we carry the Flame of Hope in honor of the athletes," event coordinator Dale Wheat said. "This is the kickstart; we're kicking off Special Olympics week and this weekend at Southeastern University, they're having the opening ceremonies for state games for Special Olympics."

The Special Olympics will be held from Friday to Sunday at Southeastern Louisiana University.