For Jason Gieschen, life didn’t really begin until age 3.

There’s not much to say about those earlier years. Yes, he’s been told about the beatings and attempted poisonings by his birth parents, about how he was strangled nearly to death. He’s been told about the bruises that covered his infant body and about the nightmares that had him screaming in his bed.

Child abuse, he’s been told, is to blame for his intellectual disability.

Jason doesn’t remember much of it, but he knows this: When he was 3, Gary and Sue Gieschen took him into their Ogallala home and gave him a second chance.

The couple helped Jason in school. They encouraged the once-shy boy to play sports, building his confidence and helping him make friends.

And when he failed to make the Ogallala High School basketball team in 1999, they helped him find the Special Olympics, where, he says with a grin, he’s won “a lot” of gold medals in just a few years.

Gieschen, now 22, will be among thousands of athletes trying out for the 2010 Special Olympics U.S. National Summer Games, the second-ever event of its kind.

And he now has added incentive to compete: Officials announced Friday that Lincoln and Omaha will host the 2010 Special Olympics, having beaten out Rochester, N.Y., and other cities to welcome some 19,000 athletes, family members and coaches for the week-long event.

Playing ball in front of a home audience would be a great experience, Jason said.

“It’s an honor, I know that.”

Local dignitaries touted Friday’s news as a chance for Nebraska to reap $30 million in benefits while it struts its stuff for a national audience.

“This is a big deal for Lincoln,” Mayor Chris Beutler said. “This is our opportunity to show the nation we can handle an event of this caliber.”

Most competitive sports, such as basketball, gymnastics, soccer, tennis and volleyball, will be played on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus, and many of the 4,000 athletes will stay in UNL dorms, said Greg Epperson, senior director of sports for Special Olympics North America.

Other sports, like golf and bowling, may be played in Omaha or other communities, and Nebraska Wesleyan University has offered its athletic facilities and residence halls, Epperson said.

That cooperation is what ultimately led to Nebraska’s selection as the Olympics’ host state, officials said. The Cornhusker state also boasts a central location, affordable lodging and a wide range of family-friendly entertainment, like Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Old Market and Lincoln’s Haymarket, said Chuck Cooper, president and CEO of Special Olympics Nebraska.

Still, he said, the Olympics are “a huge undertaking.”

Over the next three years, officials must raise $6 million and round up 8,000 volunteers to help the event run smoothly.

And take it from someone who’s been there: Nebraska shouldn’t waste a day.

“It was absolutely wonderful and exhilarating, but also very consuming,” said Ann Campbell, mayor of Ames, Iowa, which hosted the first-ever summer national games last year.

“We had everybody pulling together and working hard. … It’ll take you three years (to prepare).”

Campbell said she wasn’t sure what the final economic impact on Ames was, but she’s convinced her city’s national reputation got a big boost.

“I have never had so many unsolicited thank you letters from all over the country,” she said. “Families said, ‘I’d never heard of Iowa. We just were treated so well.’

“This was something for the soul.”

The 2010 Olympics are tentatively scheduled for late July, which would coincide with Nebraska’s Cornhusker State Games, held annually during the third week during that month.

State Games officials are considering condensing their schedule or bumping things up a week to avoid congestion, said Dave Mlnarik, executive director of the Nebraska Sports Council, which conducts the state games.

Further, they’ll encourage their 3,000 volunteers to stay on duty for the Special Olympics, Mlnarik said.

“This is very exciting news,” he said.

And already, Olympics planners have one detail in hand: Gieschen has volunteered to sing the National Anthem during opening ceremonies.

“Just let me know,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m available.”

Reach Melissa Lee at 473-2682 or mlee@journalstar.com.