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Special Olympics Organizers Plan Ahead To Beat The Heat

Olympic athletes train for months, some even years, pushing their bodies to the limits for a chance at glory.

This weekend, hundreds of Arizona's Special Olympic athletes and coaches paraded into the football stadium at Kellis High School in Glendale, their minds on the gold. But not everyone was thinking about medals.

Volunteer EMT David Langston, one of the assistant medical coordinators for Special Olympics Arizona, said a lot of preparation and innovation go into creating a proactive plan for heat safety. The Show caught up with him to learn more.

More than 300 Special Olympic athletes are competing throughout the summer. Event organizers and medical staff all say as the summer's heat gets hotter, their job only gets more complicated because some athletes can't fully communicate the urgency of their medical need.

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Lauren Gilger, host of KJZZ's The Show, is an award-winning journalist whose work has impacted communities large and small, exposing injustices and giving a voice to the voiceless and marginalized.