Sunday, April 29, 2012

The Olympic Training Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado

We planned to Pikes Peak today, but when we got to the toll, we were told that the road was closed past mile 13, due to poor road conditions. Since our goal was to go to the top, we changed our plans and decided to see what the Olympic Training Center was like. A one-time Air Force base, instead of demolishing the buildings, the campus became housing, dining, and practice facilities for many of the USA’s Olympic athletes – swimmers, shooters, weight trainers, and a few more.

There are free tours given on the top of the hour, and since we were there a good 40-minutes ahead of the next tour, we spent some time looking around the Hall of Fame, gift shop, and various displays.  The tour started with a movie showing some scenes from the most recent Olympic Games and foreshadowing the 2012 Olympics this upcoming summer.  The tour guide showed us the wall of business supporters (the USA is one of the few countries that does not offer government financial support for its Olympians), medical facilities, training facilities, shooting range, and the swimming pool.  We went into most of the facilities, except the housing/dining area, where hundreds of athletes choose to live for 3-6 years while in training.


So…….our thoughts….it was okay. The facilities are beautiful and well-maintained. Flags from every nation that participates in the Olympics are on display, as well as photos, iron sculptures depicting the sports, and visuals showing how high the high-dive board is, how narrow the balance beam, etc….  What wasn’t that great was the Hall of Fame – it was quite sparse, the movie could have been a lot better, and our tour guide was quite blasé and lacked passion for his work. 

 Should you go if in the area? Sure, it’s free and there were some interesting components, but put it on the bottom of your “must see in Colorado Springs” list. Oh, check out the photos below – fulltime RV living has made Suzanne quite strong and Brad figures he can still watch TV while sitting in a bobsled.

Easy and affordable - no matter where you are! 

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