** This thread discusses the Content article: Olympic Training Center - Countdown to Beijing **



With the Beijing Olympics just a month away we thought it
fitting to tour the Olympic
Training Center in Colorado Springs and see where our nation’s best
athletes prepare to compete. The tour is
free and if you’re lucky you’ll get to see the athletes practicing. Unlike other countries, the training facility
gets no money from the government – it is completely run off of sponsorships
–like Coke, 24 Hour Fitness, and others.
The sponsors donate the things that the athletes need, like gym
equipment and clothing. Every year the
top athletes, from gymnasts to basketball players to marksmen, apply for an
opportunity to move to the training complex and make training for the Olympics
their life. If they get accepted the
sponsors cover all of their living expenses – lodging on campus, meals, calling
cards – everything. Their only job is to
focus on training. They are also
provided with the best sports medicine available, at no cost. Doctors from around the country volunteer to
do a 2 year rotation at the training center, which apparently looks really good
on a resume. The waiting list to work
with the athletes is about 7 years long!







One of the things we saw on the tour was the gym where the
gymnasts train, which has a brand new floor, because the tumbling floor in
Beijing is made of wood, not the typical springboard. Next to the area where the gymnasts practice
is the volleyball area. At the last
Olympics our male team’s average height was 6’4”. The average European team’s height was
7’6”! Wow! Where do they get those guys? Next to them, in the same gym, is where the
basketball team practices. Can you
imagine how loud it is when they’re all in there at the same time? There are heavy curtains that separate each
section, but that can’t help much. All
around the gym are cameras and TVs. They
are used so that the coaches can work with several athletes at the same time
and play back things that they weren’t able to see first-hand. I wish we could have seen a live practice,
but we went on a Saturday afternoon and practice was over for the day.




Now that we’ve seen where they practice and learned a little
more about some of the sports, we’re anxious for the games to begin, but I
would be remiss if I didn’t mention that supporting the games sends the signal
that we approve of China’s actions, and that’s something we should all think
about. China is illegally occupying
Tibet and oppressing its people. They
are responsible for countless human rights abuses, particularly against
Christians, and they block efforts by the United Nations to assist the people
of Darfur and the Sudan. While I want to
support our athletes and I’m sure there are many good people in China, we didn’t
buy a Beijing Olympics t-shirt for our quilt at the gift shop.