By Tom Degun

Stephanie Handojo_June_15June 15 - Two athletes from the Special Olympics are set to run in the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay when it passes through Nottingham on June 28 as part of its 70-day journey across the United Kingdom to the Olympic Stadium.


Stephanie Handojo (pictured above), an Indonesian Special Olympics gold medallist with Down's syndrome, is flying from her home city of Jakarta, the country's capital, especially to run in the 2012 Torch Relay.

She was selected to carry the Torch in recognition of her outstanding achievements in sport and the arts.

Handojo is participating through the International Inspiration programme, the official international sports legacy programme of London 2012.

British Special Olympics medal-winning tennis player Alexander Eustace (pictured below) will also run in the same area on June 28.

Alexander Eustace_June_15
Eustace, who has learning difficulties, began playing tennis while he was at school.

Now 21, he has competed in a number of tournaments, including representing the East Midlands in the Special Olympics National Games in Leicester in 2009, where he won two golds and one silver medal.

In total, more than 60 Special Olympics athletes and coaches from Britain and Indonesia will be involved in the Olympic Torch Relay by time it lights the Olympic Flame at the Olympic Stadium, following an 8,000 mile journey across the UK.

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