Featured Stories – Going for Gold
Going for Gold: How Special Olympics Florida Is Ready to Shine at the 2026 USA Games in MINNESOTA
By George Diaz
As Chief Operating Officer at Special Olympics Florida, Meghan McLean has a formidable task preparing her team for the 2026 USA Games in Minnesota next summer.
The travel squad will consist of roughly 165 athletes, 70 coaches and volunteers, along with support personnel. The number of athletes is literally the best of the best, given the scope of Special Olympics participation in Florida, which offers sports and opportunities for roughly 80,000 athletes.
But McLean is fortunate to have the perfect blueprint on how to pull it off successfully. With the support of the Greater Orlando Sports Commission and many other regional partners, her organization served as host of the 2022 Games in Orlando.
Her team has worked closely with GO Sports, most notably President and CEO Jason Siegel and Amy Wise, a member of the Go Sports Advisory Board, who is now the VP of Marketing at Special Olympics International (SOI) but began her Special Olympics tenure as the Chief Development and Marketing Officer for the 2022 USA Games.
“We host our two largest games every year in Orlando, but the 2022 USA Games was a different scale,” McLean said. “What the Sports Commission was able to do is make connections for us with other people in the community that were able to embrace Special Olympics and helped make the games a success.
“The Sports Commission really wrapped their arms around this and worked with us to make it the best thing that it could possibly be.”
It’s a win-win partnership from the GO Sports perspective.
“First and foremost, it was a community-wide effort from the Opening Ceremonies, downtown activations, ESPN Wide World of Sports and staging at the Kia Center. Disney also played a tremendous role,” Siegel said. “And you are transporting hundreds of individuals who have different and special needs, adding another logistical element.
“I felt like the community did such a great job hosting. And I know we elevated the event because half a dozen cities reached out to us to discuss bidding on 2026 and 2030 for their respective communities.”
So, with the Twin Cities on notice for next summer on how to do things right, McClean and her team will focus those 165 athletes in those 27 sports, and just as important, the travel logistics.
One athlete who has claimed one of those spots is Jacob Craft, who has been involved in the Special Olympics program since he was in middle school. Now 22 years old, Jacob has played a number of sports but has focused on volleyball for the 2026 Games, much like he did in 2022.
“I’ve got to say it's an honor because as Meghan said out of the 70,000 athletes, I'm one of those athletes chosen to go represent,” he said. “Not only this year, but four years ago in the same sport. Not a lot of athletes are able to do that back-to-back like I’ve been able to do.”
There will be training and competitive opportunities on the road to Minnesota, necessary tune-ups for the bigger stage. That process includes 10 state-wide games, staged at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World.
“The goal now is just to have these teams, and these athletes have as many competitive experiences as they can before they go to Minnesota,” McLean said. “We have all of our state games that the athletes will attend but also training sessions for teams such as Jacob’s. His situation is a little different because the team is already together and the coach is with them, but you can imagine the challenges for our swimmers and other athletes and coaches who come from all over the state.
“Over the next year we'll make sure that we get all the teams together so that the athletes can get familiar with their coaches and get some training time in so that they can bond before they're out there in Minnesota together.”
Getting to Minnesota is another part of a challenging game plan involving logistical prep work. McLean’s group hosted a training camp in June as part of the preparation, and also from a motivational perspective of getting the athletes excited about the process.
“Travel adds a new wrinkle,” McLean said. “For some of these athletes, it will be their first time leaving Florida; their first time on an airplane and potentially their first time not traveling with their families.
“It's our job to prepare our athletes to do that and do that in a way that's really fun and a good experience for them. The training camp was also a way for us to show them what the experience is going to be like at the USA Games. Very busy days, but it truly is a once in a lifetime opportunity for a lot of these athletes.”
No doubt that the USA Games in Orlando gave those athletes who are participating again in Minnesota a taste of what to expect. The numbers reflect the scope of success with the collaborative effort involving GO Sports.
The 2022 Games featured 210 sporting events among 20 sports, with a total of 5,500 athletes and 10,000 volunteers in the mix. An estimated 125,000 family friends and fans attended the events. Behind the scenes, an estimated 187,000 meals and snacks were served, along with 15,000-plus health exams.
“The best experience is meeting new people, learning their stories, being able to express my story and how I became involved with the Special Olympics,” Jacob said. “One thing I learned from my 13 years of being in the Special Olympics is that it's just more than friendship. Special Olympics is a giant family.”
