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.