The United States Olympic & Paralympic Training Centers (OPTCs) are two campuses created by the

United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee and the National Paralympic Committee for the United States. It was founded in 1895 as the United States Olympic Committee, and is headquartered in C ...

(USOPC) as training facilities for its

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

and

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

athletes. They are located in Colorado Springs, Colorado and

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,303. The village of Lake Placid is near the center of the town of North Elba, southwest of Plattsburg ...

. Formerly, the USOPC also had an OPTC in Chula Vista, California, which is now a training site known as the Elite Athlete Training Center. There is a U.S. Olympic Education Center in

Marquette, Michigan Marquette ( ) is a city in Marquette County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 20,629 at the 2020 United States Census, which makes it the largest city in the Upper Peninsula. Marquette serves as the seat of government of Marquett ...

, and other official U.S. Olympic/Paralympic training sites are located in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

and

Edmond, Oklahoma Edmond is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area in the central part of the state. The population was 94,428 according to the 2020 United States Census, making it the fifth largest ci ...

; Carson, California; Lakeshore Foundation in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

;

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

; the

Pettit National Ice Center The Pettit National Ice Center is an indoor ice skating facility in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, featuring two international-size ice rinks and a 400-meter speed skating oval. Located adjacent to Wisconsin State Fair Park, the center opened on January ...

West Allis, Wisconsin West Allis is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. A suburb of Milwaukee, it is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. The population was 60,325 at the 2020 census. History The name West Allis derives from Edward P. Allis, ...

; a USRowing training center in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

- previously in

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

; Huntsville, Texas and the SPIRE Institute and Academy near

Geneva, Ohio Geneva is a city in Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States. The area which would become Geneva was originally settled in 1805, and was incorporated as a city in 1958. It is named after Geneva, New York. The population was 6,215 at the 2010 cens ...

. Some athletes preparing for the Olympics, Paralympics, and Pan American Games live at one of the OPTCs for a period of months or years, while others visit periodically with their respective national teams for training camps, coaching (especially in

sports science Sports science is a discipline that studies how the healthy human body works during exercise, and how sport and physical activity promote health and performance from cellular to whole body perspectives. The study of sports science traditionally inc ...

and

sports psychology Sport psychology was defined by the European Federation of Sport in 1996, as the study of the psychological basis, processes, and effects of sport. Otherwise, sport is considered as any physical activity where the individuals engage for competi ...

), or physical testing. Foreign national teams are also granted use of the USOPTCs. The USOPTCs are all open to the general public for tourism, and they are the only facilities for Olympic training in the world to do so. United States Olympic Training Center Colorado Springs

Colorado Springs

The

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

OPTC was the first to be built, and has been the home of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee since 1978. Its location on the former

Ent Air Force Base Ent Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base located in the Knob Hill neighborhood of Colorado Springs, Colorado. A tent city, established in 1943 during construction of the base, was initially commanded by Major General Uzal Gira ...

was selected for its relatively high elevation, which is often thought to improve training effectiveness. Its facilities include an

Olympic-size swimming pool An Olympic-size swimming pool conforms to regulated dimensions that are large enough for international competition. This type of swimming pool is used in the Olympic Games, where the race course is in length, typically referred to as "long cour ...

, an indoor shooting range, the

Olympic Training Center Velodrome The Olympic Training Center Velodrome, also known as the 7-11 Velodrome, is a velodrome in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The track is surfaced with concrete, which is unusual as Olympic-quality tracks tend to be timber or synthetics. It was built i ...

, two sports centers housing numerous gymnasiums and weight rooms, and a sports science laboratory, in addition to an athlete center and dining hall, several dormitories, a visitors' center, and the offices of both the USOPC and U.S. Paralympics. The center hosts

Warrior Games The Warrior Games is a multi-sport event for wounded, injured or ill service personnel and veterans organized by the United States Department of Defense (DoD). History 2010–2014 The Warrior Games have taken place annually since 2010. It ...

competition each year.

Lake Placid

The Lake Placid OPTC facility opened in November 1982, two years after hosting the 1980 Winter Games. The LPOPTC is home to four resident sports: Bobsled/Skeleton, Luge, Freestyle Ski, and Biathlon. Athletes from boxing, canoe and kayak, judo, rowing, synchronized swimming, taekwondo, team handball, water polo and wrestling also train frequently on site.

Chula Vista

A third OPTC was in

Chula Vista Chula Vista (; ) is the second-largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the seventh largest city in Southern California, the fifteenth largest city in the state of California, and the 78th-largest city in the United States. The popu ...

, which is located about south of the city of

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

, is where the U.S. national rugby sevens team trains. As of January 2017, the training center is owned by the City of

, and has been renamed Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center. The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee will continue funding athlete programming at the center at least through 2020. The 150-acre campus features sport venues and support facilities for eight Olympic sports: archery, canoe/kayak, cycling, field hockey, rowing, soccer, softball and track & field. In June 1995, the training center, then known as ARCO Training Center for sponsorship reasons, was open. Over the years more facilities, such as beach volleyball courts and a BMX track, were added. The Chula Vista center is also home to the annual SoCal Showdown, a national-level archery tournament that attracts archers from around the country to compete in a several day competition consisting of qualifications and eliminations.

References

External links

US Olympic Committee website

{{Colorado Springs Sports venues in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Olympic Training Center Olympic Games in New York (state) Sports venues in California Sports venues in San Diego County, California United States at the Olympics Buildings and structures in Essex County, New York Cycle racing in the United States Tourist attractions in El Paso County, Colorado Handball venues in the United States