These competitions include the Special Olympics World Games. These alternate between summer and winter games. Special Olympics World Games are held every four years. The most recent World Summer Games were the Special Olympics World Summer Games, held in Athens, Greece (The birthplace of the modern Olympic Games). They ran from June 25, 2011 to July 4, 2011. The next summer games will be held in Los Angeles beginning Saturday, July 25 and ending on August 2, 2015. The Flame of Hope is the symbol of the Special Olympics. It was lit on May 14, 2015 at the Pnyx in Athens, Greece. That began the its journey to the World Games. The torch remains lit until the end of the Games on August, 2.