A Hawaii County Police Officer from South Kohala had the experience of a lifetime participating in the Torch Run for the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Berlin, Germany this month.
Kui Dela Cruz, who has been a volunteer and coach with West Hawaii Special Olympics for over 10 years was chosen as one of the torch carriers representing USA and the only delegate from Hawaii.
Dela Cruz was originally slated to run in the winter games to be held in Sweden, however the Swedish Government withdrew its hosting rights in December 2019 due to financial problems. the games were then scheduled in Kazan, Russia. The event had been postponed to January 2023 due a rise of COVID-19 cases. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the event was cancelled due to logistical and safety issues.
He finally got the chance to carry the torch this month for the Summer Games in Berlin.
From June 14-17, eight teams consisting of 77 police officers from 20 countries accompanied by a Special Olympics athlete visited host cities surrounding Berlin, running with the torch at each stop.
“We went to about five host towns each day, running in each town,” recalled Dela Cruz. “We did about five towns a day, running about 23 miles total over the four day period,”
He said the welcome from each town was amazing.
“Each town we went to, they did a welcoming with the town mayor, police chief and athletes from that town. We would do the run and then they had an hour long celebration for us. After that we would get on the bus to go to the next town and do it again,” he said.
“The athletes in each town are just like our athletes here – in the best spirits. You could tell they loved us. We were like rock stars,” he said. “But we were doing it for them.”
Deal Cruz ran with nine other officers from different countries.
Being his first time out of the country, Dela Cruz was surprised and enthralled with the flavor of an old world country.
“Germany was amazing. I was amazed at how many landmarks and old buildings there were throughout Berlin, some still marked with bullet holes from the war,” he said.
The torch runners, or Fackellauf in German, had their days full, starting at 6:30 a.m. and returning to their hotel around 7 p.m.
“I got no sleep at all. With a 12 hour time difference from Hawaii, although we would be running at 1:00 in the afternoon, to me it felt like I was running at 1:00 in the morning, but it was worth it,” he said.
He said the small host towns they ran were mostly lined with cobblestone.
“My knees took a beating. On the last day on the second to the last run, my knee started to get real sore. I pulled off the line for a while, but caught up to the team and finished the 2.5 mile run. At that point I told myself I couldn’t not finish, so I did the last run, almost a mile in extreme pain,” he recalled.
That night Dela Cruz, along with fellow police officer participants from around the world attended the opening ceremonies in their respective uniforms.
“I wore an old kukui nut lei to give the Hawaiian flair,” he mused.
Dela Cruz recalled the Olympiastadion, with a 74,000 seat capacity, was breathtaking.
“Everyone was pretty much speechless,” he said of the stadium at opening ceremonies. “Because my team raised the most money for the fundraiser, we were on the floor when the torch came in. The officer and athlete that brought the flame into the stadium were also from my team. That was pretty exciting.”
Because Dela Cruz raised over $3,000, he received a replica of the torch used at the Berlin Games, a memento he will cherish.
He said he was in contact with his team members through WhatsApp before meeting them in Berlin and continues to keep in contact with them.
“We got pretty close. My WhatsApp is still blowing up,” he laughed. “It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience. Other officers who have done a lot for Special Olympics should experience this.”