Special Olympics' final touches

Every day, fashion designer Helen Johnson is up at 5am, answering emails and preparing what has been a gruelling work schedule.

The Palmerston North dressmaker runs a successful business but for the past two years has also been helping to organise the Special Olympics national summer games.

The seventh games start today with more than a thousand athletes and hundreds of support crews in Palmerston North for the event.

Ms Johnson - who doubles as head coach of the Manawatu Special Olympics squad and volunteers 30 hours a week to train her athletes in basketball, swimming and athletics - was yesterday going over the host team's final touches before last night's opening ceremony.

The work is grinding but Ms Johnson, who co-ordinates the 117 athletes in her team, said she loved it.

"I would rather take 50 of the guys away than five teenagers for a weekend. I mean look at them, they are so social and fun to be with."

Working alongside Ms Johnson has been the event's co-ordinator Russell Harris, who has taken a week off his day job with roading company Higgins Contractors, to help with the games, which run until Saturday.

A weekend sportscaster with Radio NZ, Mr Harris was involved with the last Special Olympics summer games, held in Palmerston North in 1990.

He, too, has been helping to organise this event since February with 700 others from around the region.

"These people do it for love and most of us work nights to try and help out," said the 71-year-old.

Mr Harris said he had travelled the world in his more than 30 years of sportscasting but the Special Olympics were "full of rare emotion".

"A lot of these athletes study people like Valerie Vili and when they throw the shot put it might only go three or four feet but then you see the expression on their face and it's like they've set a world record," he said.

"It might take them 20 seconds to cross the line in a 100m race but money can't buy the joy they show when they cross the finish line."

Games director Sue Kysow said the event was logistically challenging, with 10 sports running simultaneously at nine venues around the region.

She said more than 100 clinically trained staff were on hand to screen the 1075 athletes' ears, eyes and teeth.

"This is an entirely separate, but really important, part of the programme ... They have health needs which are not being met currently."