For eight days this summer, some of the world’s top athletes with intellectual disabilities will be featured on national television.

ESPN said this week it will air coverage of the Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles across its networks.

The event’s opening ceremony will be broadcast live on ESPN co-hosted by Robin Roberts from ABC’s “Good Morning America” and ESPN’s Lindsey Czarniak and Kevin Negandhi.

Subsequently, ESPN, ABC or ESPN2 will air daily coverage of the weeklong event including features and key results from the competition. A “best of” special recapping the World Games will also be broadcast over two days a week later.

“The Special Olympics World Games is a truly compelling event, filled with some of the most extraordinary sports stories and people you will ever see, and we are looking forward to showcasing them,” said Russell Wolff, executive vice president of ESPN International. “Sports has the power to be unifying, uplifting and life-changing, and this event will be a remarkable and tangible example of that power.”

Previously, ESPN provided more limited online coverage of the 2011 Special Olympics World Games in Athens, Greece.

The Los Angeles games are expected to bring together some 7,000 athletes and 3,000 coaches from 177 countries in addition to 500,000 spectators for the event July 25 to August 2.

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