Special Olympics USA Games Coming To Minnesota In Summer 2026

MINNESOTA — Minnesota is set to host the Special Olympics in four years’ time after winning a yearlong competitive bidding process to stage the Games.

The 2026 Special Olympics USA Games, scheduled for June of that year, is expected to bring up to 4,000 athletes, 10,000 volunteers, 1,500 coaches and 75,000 fans to the Twin Cities area, according to Special Olympics Minnesota.

The 2026 Special Olympics will feature 15 Olympic-style team and individual sports, as well as five demonstration sports. Competitions will be hosted at University of Minnesota facilities and “additional world-class venues throughout the Twin Cities,” officials said.

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University of Minnesota President Joan Gabel, who is an honorary co-chair for the Games, said the school is “thrilled to welcome” athletes and families to the Twin Cities and its campus.

“Our university shares the same goals of the Games in transforming lives through inclusion and celebrating each person’s greatest ability,” Gabel said in a news release.

Each Games generates about $70 million in economic impact for host cities, Special Olympics Minnesota said.

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Orlando, Florida, will host the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games from June 5-12.

More than 14,000 people in Minnesota have participated in Polar Plunges since October, raising $4.24 million to help send Minnesota athletes to the Games in Orlando.

Jersey Mike's, the presenting sponsor of the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games, said it raised more than $20 million for the event during its annual Month of Giving in March.

Forty Minnesota-based Jersey Mike's shops raised just over $450,000 on March 30 for the chain's Day of Giving, according to the company. Jersey Mike's donated 100 percent of its sales that day to support the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games.