Olympic and Paralympic games will bring many hours of TV coverage filled with stories of Team USA 550 plus athletes. 49 of them were trained in Colorado Springs.
The city hosts the US Olympic Committee’s flagship training center. It is a 35-acre complex equipped with a high-tech sports medicine clinic, an advanced sports performance lab and facilities for summer sports such as swimming, gymnastics, fencing, judo, wrestling and boxing. There is also a training center in Chula Vista, California, but it is more specialized in outdoor summer sports.
The Colorado Springs training center hosts up to 500 athletes who train and live there for various periods of time: from 6 months to 6 years. Only high-level athletes are invited to live in the facility, but so-called campers are allowed to stay for 2-6 weeks as well. The training center also hosts one-time events.
Even if you are not a high-level athlete who can get an invitation to reside in the training center, you still can visit it. The visitor center has been upgraded recently, and now you can watch an “Olympic Moments” video on five large screens or explore the exhibit dedicated to Olympic and Paralympic athletes. If you want to take a tour down the facility and see what an athlete’s typical day is like, it is only $12 and lasts an hour. You will see the strength and conditioning area, sports centers and the pool. In the gift shop you can buy souvenirs to remember your visit and even your own Team USA gear.
The training center is open for visitors Monday through Saturday from 9AM to 4:30PM, and on Sunday 11AM to 4PM.
