‘It’s a great honor’: UKPD captain to carry Special Olympics Torch, represent Kentucky abroad

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 19, 2025) — Sporting events provide a unique opportunity for people to connect and rally around an athlete, team or cause.  

The Special Olympics creates that space and more — providing opportunities for athletes to share their gifts and skills, demonstrate courage and experience joy on a global stage.  

“If we could all be more like these athletes, it would probably be a better world, to be honest. They are so happy and encouraging,” said University of Kentucky Police Department (UKPD) Capt. Chuck Adams.   

Adams will be part of one of the most iconic moments of the 2025 Special Olympics World Winter Games — the final leg of the Olympic torch run.  

Known as the “Guardians of the Flame,” a mixed group of law enforcement officials and Special Olympics athletes have united to form the Final Leg Team. Adams is the only officer representing Kentucky in the run. 

From Feb. 26 to March 8, the team will take the “Flame of Hope” from Athens, Greece, where it’s lit, to Rome, where it will receive a papal blessing in St. Peter’s Basilica.  

Adams will join his fellow Final Leg runners in Turin on Feb. 27 with the Final Leg itself beginning on March 1. From there, they will escort the flame to several cities in Italy before returning to Turin for the opening ceremony. 

The Special Olympics means more than just an opportunity to Adams. It’s a way to represent an important cause to him. 

Adams has been involved in the torch run for a decade, beginning with his time at the Frankfort Police Department.  

“We spent a lot of time with at the Stewart Home in Frankfort, where a lot of Special Olympians come from. We’d scrimmage with their basketball team,” said Adams. “I tell other officers that you get so much more from these athletes than you can imagine. That’s where this all started.”   

He didn’t give up the effort when he decided to retire as chief in 2021. 

Now with UKPD, Adams has worked to bolster UKPD’s already established engagement with the Law Enforcement Torch Run across Lexington and Kentucky as well as Special Olympics Kentucky.  

Adams said his role at UK has allowed him to continue both his career and the efforts he is so passionate about. He spends time with and raises money for Special Olympics athletes. Those include events like the UK Campus Polar Plunge, the 2024 Lexington Truck Pull, Tip a Cop and more.  

All that effort leads to Turin in northern Italy near the Alps.  

"We will be running every day for 11 days straight,” Adams said on his preparation for his Final Leg run on cobblestone roads in cold temperatures. 

Most importantly, Adams looks forward to another chance to raise awareness about the Special Olympics. 

“It’s a great honor. I wasn't looking for it. I didn't expect it when they told me, and I was speechless.”  

Adams and other law enforcement officers will escort the “Flame of Hope” to the Opening Ceremonies of the Turin 2025 Games on March 8. More than 1,500 athletes from 103 countries will compete in eight winter sports.  

You can follow along with the Special Olympics World Winter Games Turin 2025 online here. 

Special Olympics is the world’s largest program of sports training and competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. Participation in competitive events is open to all individuals eight years of age or older. Training and competition in local, area, state and national programs is offered year-round in Kentucky in 15 sports. Find more information online here.