Team Meeting Agenda

It was great seeing everyone yesterday. I hope we were able to address your questions and provide you with some important details. For reasons unknown to me, the meeting did not record. What I have done is place the detailed agenda below, which covers everything we discussed, minus the questions that were asked. 

Virtually everything that we covered yesterday will be compiled into our operations plan that everyone will receive in the future.

We will have one more full team meeting, likely in early February and it should be fairly brief.

Again, please don't hesitate to reach out with questions.

Here is the meeting agenda:

 

·         Chronological Schedule

-          ATHENS

-          We will create a WhatsAp Group for Athens/Rome group

-          Opportunity to stay at Host Hotel (see blog for link; about $180 US per night, unless you split)

-          Team Leaders Diana Sanchez and Pete Sawyer will coordinate activities

-          Arrive 02/24, not later, no exceptions

-          No-host dinner 02/24 (not mandatory)

-          All will meet at the Host Hotel on 2/25 about 0900-0930 Hours and be bussed to Zappeion Hall; Likely your luggage will stay on the bus (or at hotel) and collect when we return)

-          Ceremony at 1100 Hours

-          Immediately following ceremony (about 1200 hours), an approximate two-mile (3.2 km) Torch Run to the Italian Embassy

-          Flame will leave on ITA Airlines Flight AZ721 at 1925 Hours; Arrive Rome at 2040 Hours

-          ROME

-          Mass and Papal Blessing at 0900 Hours in St. Peter’s Square, Vatican City

-          150 people will be invited to a smaller event after the mass; will include the SO Italia Winter Games Team; SOI Staff; LETR and others; do not know how many tickets will be allotted to LETR

-          Flame will travel to Turin at approximately 1400 Hours on train, arriving about 1830 hours

-          Torch Runners do not have to be in Turin until 02/27; if you choose to travel to Turin, the NH Hotel will provide rooms at the discounted rate (about $190 US for a single)

-          All Team Leaders traveling from Athens/Rome must be in Turin on 02/26All Torch Runners MUST be in Turin by 02/27, no exceptions

-          TURIN

-          Team Leaders MUST establish WhatsAp groups with their teams, if they have not already

-          Team Leaders NOT traveling to Rome will be picked up at airport by the LOC and transported to the NH Hotel

-          Torch Runners and Athletes will arrive in Turin on 02/27

-          You will be greeted at the airport by the Logistics Team (wearing Final Leg gear)

-          Transported to the hotel by the LOC

-          Once you arrive at the hotel you will be directed to our Operations Center where you will receive room keys, uniform kits if you are not from North America, and credentials

-          Resist the urge to take a nap; power through the day and into the early evening at least; this will help beat jet lag and get you on schedule quicker

-          Dinner provided by the LOC on 02/27 at the hotel. No formal program

-          On 02/28 AM, Team Leaders and Logistics will meet with the Management Team to discuss the general plan for the week and confirm uniform of the day for the Welcome Dinner and the first day of ceremonies

-          On 02/28 Team Leaders will meet individually with their teams; likely some free time in the afternoon

-          Welcome Dinner will take place at the Hotel on 02/28, MANDATORY ATTENDANCE NO EXCEPTIONS

-          At each ceremony, one Torch Runner and one Athlete will speak representing the Final Leg Team; the city Mayor and Police Chief will also speak; at the conclusion of the speeches, there will be a brief gift exchange; The Torch Runner will bring a small gift (could be a t-shirt, patch, or something symbolic of your home); Athlete will give a Final Leg medallion in a velvet case); I am putting together the speech schedule now 

-          01 MARCH

-          AM - Bardonecchia

-          PM – Toyota

-          02 MARCH

-          AM – Torino

-          PM – Allianz Juventus Stadium

-          03 MARCH

-          AM – Sestriere

-          PM – Pregalato

-          04 MARCH

-          AM – Novara

-          PM – Vercelli

-          05 MARCH

-          AM – Cuneo

-          PM – Asti

-          06 MARCH

-          AM – Alessandria

-          PM – Verbania

-          07 MARCH

-          AM – Biella

-          PM – Coca Cola

-          Ceremonial Team run to

-          08 MARCH

-          AM – Polar Plunge if Opening Ceremony is in Evening; If OC in afternoon, free time in the morning

-          PM – Opening Ceremony, either afternoon or evening

-          09 MARCH

-          AM – Polar Plunge if OC in afternoon on Saturday; free time if not

-          PM – Recognition Dinner at the hotel, mandatory attendance, no exceptions

-          10 MARCH

-          Team is dismissed from their Final Leg duties and may return home 

·         ITEMS TO BRING

-          Thermal undergarments

-          May consider wearing compression shorts

-          Black socks (no exceptions); we are wearing running pants for all runs; you may wear the socks of your choice, but they must be black

-          Two pairs of running shoes; may consider making one of them trail running shoes

-          EU power converter

-          May consider bringing Vaseline, or small band aides for nipples

-          Sunscreen, lip balm, moisturizing lotion

-          Single-use laundry detergent 

·         MISCELLANEOUS ADVICE

-          Contact cellphone provider and check international plans; most services offer $10-$12 per day text/voice

-          Contact bank & credit card companies and advise on international travel (most you can do online)

-          If you are picking up your uniform kit in Italy, save room in luggage for those extra items 

·         TORCH RUN DISCIPLINE

-          Management Team will determine what items will be worn for each run; once that decision is made, no exceptions; uniformity is king

-          We will typically run in columns of two or four

-          The Team whose Torch Runner is speaking at the ceremony is the lead team

-          All athletes run up front

-          Only the lead team and all of the athletes will carry the torch for each run

-          Torch Bearers will run approximately eight feet in front of rest of Team; no one runs in front of the torch

-          Officer’s hand on top, Athlete’s hand on the bottom

-          Team Leaders will determine when to rotate

-          Only Team Leaders call cadence during runs

-          Maintain discipline when running; we want to look sharp and organized

-          May wear sunglasses, except when running with the Torch, or taking Team pictures

-          DO NOT TAKE CELL PHONE PHOTOS DURING RUNS OR CEREMONIES; THIS IS WHY WE HAVE A DOCUMENTATION TEAM

Athens Flame Lighting Host Hotel

 

Athens Host Hotel Room Availability

If you are traveling to Athens for the Flame Lighting, please see the information below from Sandy Nash of SOI regarding room availability at the Host Hotel.

We are excited over the prospect of having each of you join us at the Torch Lighting Ceremony in Athens, Greece next February. You should have received your invitation via email. Kindly RSVP through the invitation by the deadline of January 22, 2025. If you did not receive your invitation, please let me know ASAP.

We have arranged a room block for Final Leg Runners at the NJV Athens. If you choose to stay at this hotel, transportation to and from the ceremony will be provided. The rate and information for booking your accommodation are outlined below. Please note that all bookings must be made by January 10, 2025 and we anticipated all Final Leg Runners will be sharing rooms with other runners while in Greece. Please reach out to your assigned Final Leg roommate to see if they would be willing to share during this portion of the adventure. 

We encourage you to book soon as space is limited.

• Hotel: NJV Athens
• Dates: February 23 – 25  (Stretch Dates available based on availability)
• ingle Room: 160 Euros ($167.90 USD as of 12/17/2024)
• Double/Twin Room: 170 Euros ($178.40 USD as of 12/17/2024)
• Rates do not include the climate resilience tax of 4 Euros per room per night.
• Book online by clicking here 
• If the link above does not activate, right click link and then click "open link"
  

If you are interested in sharing a room with another Torch Runner to reduce cost, please use the comments section on this post.

You are not required to stay at this hotel, but please try to stay within proximity of the Zappeion Hall to reduce your travel to the ceremony.

Team Leaders Diana Sanchez and Pete Sawyer will help coordinate all Athens activities. We will discuss further on our Thursday (Friday for some) Zoom call.

Flight Notification Form

SUBMISSION OF TRAVEL ITINERARIES

You should all by now be in the throes of booking your travel to Turin (whether it is direct or via Athens and/or Rome).  It is important that we have a record of the travel itineraries of all team members.  This will assist greatly in arranging transportation to and from the airport / train station to the hotel on your day of arrival and departure.

Once you have your plans settled and have received a copy of your travel itinerary, please complete the Flight Notification Form.  In preparation for that task, you should also ensure that you have access to a copy of your itinerary (preferably in pdf format, but an image of the itinerary will suffice).  If you have multiple itinerary documents (flights into Athens and out of Turin, plus a flight from Athens to Rome and a train from Rome to Turin), please attached all of them.

The questions in the form only relate to your final segment into Turin and your first segment out of Turin.  

You can access the Flight Notification Form either by clicking on the link shown below or by going to the Final Leg Portal - General Information - Travel Info.

In addition - if you have renewed your passport in the past twelve months, could you also complete the Passport Update Form which can be found below and also in the Travel Info section of the portal.

Thanks

Scott

WORLD WINTER GAMES PRESS CONFERENCE

 The 2025 World Winter Games Local Organizing Committee in conjunction with Special Olympics International are hosting a 'webinar' to announce important details about the Games.  

This will include the unveiling of the Final Leg Torch.

The webinar will commence at 6.00am (US Eastern Time) on Thursday, December 12, 2024.

The webinar is open to Final Leg Team members - you simply need to register for the event.

You can register by clicking here

Patches and Coins Available for Purchase

 Purchase Extra Patches & Coins

In 2023, we introduced the first Final Leg patch and they were a huge hit. Every Final Leg Team Member will receive one patch in the uniform kit, but we are making available for sale extra patches at a cost of $10 USD each. Additionally, for the first time EVER, we are also making available for purchase the Final Leg coin, which makes a perfect "thank you" gift for your donors. The coins will cost $15 USD.

The purchased patches and coins will be available for pickup when you arrive in Turin. We have a very short sales window, so all purchase must be made by noon Central Standard Time (USA), December 15th.

Copy and paste the link below to purchase!

https://fundraise.givesmart.com/e/0Zxe0A?vid=15p1qw