Missouri athletes prepare to Special Olympics USA games | Fulton Sun

As thousands of Special Olympics athletes gather at the University of Minnesota for the 2026 USA Games later this month, athlete Joe Collins will be there representing Jefferson City.

He’ll be one of about 90 athletes representing Missouri on the national stage and the only one this year from Jefferson City.

Every four years, Special Olympics North America brings together athletes from 52 U.S. programs for the national summer games. This year’s event will take place June 20-26 in Minneapolis.

Collins will compete in track and field, running in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes.

“I’m very quick,” he said.

The USA Games will be Collins’ first national competition. In fact, all four Missouri track and field athletes attending the games will be competing at the national level for the first time.

But Collins is no stranger to Special Olympics competition. He has participated in Special Olympics sports since he was 12 years old.

“I think it’s a big opportunity, it’s my first time,” he said. “It’s going to be a challenge for me.”

Collins, 24, is the son of Ian and Landra Collins of Jefferson City and is a 2020 graduate of Battle High School in Columbia.

Missouri athletes selected for the USA Games first had to be nominated and then attend a weeklong training camp in summer 2025 at the Missouri Military Academy in Mexico. Athletes also had to earn a gold medal to advance to the national competition, according to track coach Curt Yaeger of Jefferson City, who is also coaching an athlete from Moberly and two from the St. Louis region. Yaeger is semi-retired and coached volleyball for many years at Jefferson City High School, and been involved in coaching with the Special Olympics for about 30 years.

Missouri is sending many new athletes this year. About 75 percent of Team Missouri’s athletes are attending the USA Games for the first time, according to Zach Paul, marketing and communications director for Special Olympics Missouri.

“They’re determined. They’re all determined,” Yaeger said. “They’re going to do well, and whether they get a gold, silver or bronze or none of those, they’re going to give their best effort and they’re going to represent the state of Missouri and be proud of doing it.”

Throughout the past year, Collins has trained for the competition while also working as a fry cook at a local Sonic Drive-In. He said his employer has been extremely supportive and helped with fundraisers for the trip.

The athletes have spent the past year preparing not only physically, but financially. According to Paul, each athlete is expected to raise about $3,000 toward the cost of attending the games, roughly half of the total expense of sending an athlete to the national competition.

“We’re making sure they are committed to running and getting in shape and all that kind of stuff. … With the volleyball team or basketball team, they have to get together and practice and that kind of stuff. So it’s a year-long commitment from the time they’re selected until the time we get on the bus and head up there,” Yaeger said.

In addition to Sonic, Paul said organizations and businesses across Missouri have helped support Team Missouri’s fundraising efforts. Jersey Mike’s has been a national supporter of Special Olympics, while Fleet Feet stores, which includes the Jefferson City location, have helped equip athletes with shoes.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Mahomies Foundation have also donated to Missouri’s team.

A total of 112 individuals from Missouri — including athletes, Unified Partners, coaches and support staff — will travel to Minneapolis. Nearly 90 of them are athletes and Unified Partners. Unified Partners are individuals without intellectual disabilities who compete alongside athletes with intellectual disabilities and often serve as mentors and coaches.

Team Missouri will compete in 12 sports — athletics (track and field), basketball, bocce, flag football, golf, pickleball, powerlifting, softball, swimming, tennis and volleyball.

“All have worked really hard,” Paul said. “Over the last 12 months, they’ve trained. They’ve put in the time to want to do this. I can say from the leadership side of things that we’re very proud of the athletes that we’re taking and looking forward to seeing how well they do when we get to Minnesota to compete.”

Other athletes from Central Missouri competing in the games include Brandon Hayes of Lake Ozark in bowling, Scott LaRue of Columbia in pickleball, Anna McDaniel of Columbia in pickleball, Mariah Lucero of Columbia in swimming and Kenlee Lewis of Moberly in track and field.

Unified Partners from the area include Molly Schuster of Boonville in bocce, Cooper Reno of Columbia in bowling, Aiden Petterson of Fulton in pickleball, Jen Petterson of Fulton in pickleball, Ken Petterson of Fulton in pickleball and Hillary James of Boonville in pickleball.

Area coaches attending the games include Peggy Llewellyn-Neff of Columbia in tennis, Megan Bloss of Moberly in track and field and Maci Arnold of Ashland in volleyball.

Before departing, Team Missouri will hold a public sendoff celebration at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Love Coffee in Columbia. The team, known as Mo Magic, has adopted a chant that members use during bus rides, opening ceremonies and other team events.

“Show me, show me, show me,” Paul chanted. “Mo, Mo, Mo,” Yaeger and Collins responded.

The team will leave Columbia following the sendoff and travel to Kirksville for an evening pep rally before staying overnight. The group will then continue to Minnesota on Friday morning. Opening ceremonies are scheduled for Saturday and competition begins Monday.

During the opening ceremonies, there will be a parade of athletes and the ceremony will conclude with music from singer, songwriter and producer John Baptiste and singer, songwriter and actress Demi Lovato.

Athletes will compete throughout the week in preliminary and final rounds of their respective sports. While some competitors have days off between events, Collins said he is scheduled to compete at least once every day.