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 (NOC) and the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) for the United States. It was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado ...

(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 bet ...

and

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Kore ...

athletes. They are located in

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...

, and

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, Essex County, New York (state), New York, United States. In 2020, its population was 2,205. The village of Lake Placid ...

. Formerly, the USOPC also had a third OPTC in

Chula Vista, California Chula Vista ( ; , ) is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. It is the second-most populous city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the Largest cities in Southern California, seventh-most populous city in Southern California ...

, which is now the city-owned Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center. There is a U.S. Olympic Education Center in

Marquette, Michigan Marquette ( ) is the county seat of Marquette County, Michigan, Marquette County and the largest city in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, United States. Located on the shores of Lake Superior, Marquette is a major port known primarily for shippin ...

, 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 List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

and

Edmond, Oklahoma Edmond is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States. It is a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, located in Central Oklahoma. Its population was 94,428 according to the 2020 United States census, a 16% increase from 2010. maki ...

;

Carson, California Carson is a city in the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay and the Los Angeles Harbor Region, Harbor regions of Los Angeles County, California, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International ...

; Lakeshore Foundation in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

;

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

; 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 1 ...

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 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Wis ...

; a

USRowing The United States Rowing Association, commonly known as USRowing, is the national governing body for the sport of Rowing in the United States. It serves to promote the sport on all levels of competition, including the selection and training of ...

training center in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

(previously in

Princeton, New Jersey The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...

);

Huntsville, Texas Huntsville is a city in and the county seat of Walker County, Texas, United States. Its population was 45,941 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the center of the Huntsville United States micropolitan area, micropolitan area ...

, and the SPIRE Institute and Academy near

Geneva, Ohio Geneva is a city in northwestern Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States. The population was 5,924 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Cleveland metropolitan area, northeast of Cleveland. The area which would become Geneva was originally se ...

. Some athletes preparing for the Olympics, Paralympics, and

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

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 sports and physical activity promote health and performance from cellular to whole body perspectives. The study of sports science traditionally i ...

and

sports psychology Sport psychology is defined as the study of the psychological basis, processes, and effects of sport. One definition of sport sees it as "any physical activity for the purposes of competition, recreation, education or health". Sport psychology i ...

), 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.

Colorado Springs

The

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010. Colorado Springs is the second-most populous c ...

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 Girar ...

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 is a swimming pool which conforms to the regulations for length, breadth, and depth made by World Aquatics (formerly FINA) for swimming at the Summer Olympics and the swimming events at the World Aquatics Champions ...

, an indoor

shooting range A shooting range, firing range, gun range or shooting ground is a specialized facility, venue, or field designed specifically for firearm usage qualifications, training, practice, or competitions. Some shooting ranges are operated by milita ...

, the

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

, 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. History 2010–2014 The Warrior Games have taken place annually since 2010 except ...

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 opened in June 1995 in

Chula Vista Chula Vista ( ; , ) is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. It is the second-most populous city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the seventh-most populous city in Southern California, the 15th-most populous city in the ...

, which is located about south of the city of

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. The campus was originally named the ''

ARCO Arco may refer to: Places * Arco, Trentino, a town in Trentino, Italy * Arco, Idaho, in the United States * Arco, Minnesota, a city in the United States * ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California, home of the Sacramento Kings Companies * ARCO (b ...

Training Center'' until 2000 for sponsorship reasons. In January 2017, the USOC transferred ownership of the site to the City of Chula Vista, which was renamed the ''Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center''. This was done as the USOPC shifts its operations strategy away from directly operating the training facilities. The USOPC continues to fund athlete programming at the Chula Vista center through at least 2024. 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. Over the years, more facilities such as

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side o ...

courts and a

BMX BMX, an abbreviation for bicycle motocross or bike motocross, is a cycle sport performed on BMX bikes, either in competitive BMX racing or freestyle BMX, or else in general street or off-road recreation. History BMX began during the ea ...

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. It also serves as a training site for the U.S. men's and women's rugby sevens teams.

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