HELENA — With the Special Olympics Montana State Summer Games kicking off Wednesday, MTN Sports is continuing to highlight the people who help make Special Olympics about inclusion and connection. And you’d be hard-pressed to find a better ambassador for Special Olympics than Helena police sergeant Domingo Zapata.
Zapata is Montana’s 2026 Spirit of Special Olympics Individual honoree. MTN caught up with Zapata Thursday at an event in Helena to talk about the award.
“I don’t do it for the awards. I do it for the athletes,” Zapata said. “I was very fortunate to have the award given to me by a fellow athlete named Jenny Hill from Great Falls. She actually adopted me as her big brother; she’s my little sister. But like I said, it doesn’t mean anything if I don’t have the athletes there, and that’s why we do it.”
For Zapata, his connection to Special Olympics has been a lifelong one. Zapata grew up watching his older sister compete on the Vigilante Stadium track as a Special Olympics athlete.
“I was born, and one of my older sisters was a Special Olympics athlete,” Zapata said. “So, I was literally born into the program. And I would go to meets with her and my mom. There’s pictures of me on my mom’s hip over at Vigilante Stadium during track meets with her running in the background. And then throughout the years, I started working with individuals with disabilities.”
Fast forward to today, and Zapata is the director of Montana’s Law Enforcement Torch Run, which features police officers carrying the “Flame of Hope” across Montana while raising money and awareness for Special Olympics.
“We are so appreciative of their support and how much they welcome us into their community and how much they appreciate us showing up,” Zapata said. “I wish to say it was equal, but it’s definitely not. We get so much more out of it than the athletes do, I think. But, they enjoy having us out there, and it’s just a great time. It’s like hanging out with family.”
The 2026 State Summer Games run May 13-15 in Billings.
