U.S. Olympic Training Center

Today we did a 50 minute tour of the U.S. Olympic Training Center located in Colorado Springs.The U.S. Olympic Complex in Colorado Springs is the headquarters for the U.S. Olympic Committee administration and the Olympic Training Center programs. It was free (woohoo) and close by and really, how often do you get to see something like that?

A sweet kid, ahem...Olympic ambassador, led our tour. His name was Casey. Or Charles. Carl? No, I think Casey. Anyway, we started in the visitor's center and watched a 12 minute movie montage of the Olympic winners and some footage about the upcoming London games. Allow me to admit something to you: I am completely incapable of watching Olympic montages without tearing up. Had I been in the comfort of my home watching it, I probably would've just let the tears roll. I don't know what it is about the Olympics that makes me cry, but it gets me every time.
So. After the movie we were escorted around the facility, which I will tell you is really, really nice. We were allowed to go into a gym to watch a basketball practice and some male gymnasts working on pommel horse techniques. We saw the Olympic pool, the shooting range, and the dorms where the athletes live. I highly recommend stopping by if you are ever in the area. The Olympic Visitor Center includes one of seven U.S. Olympic Stores in the country. They are the only stores in America where every purchase helps support U.S. athletes, so naturally I spent $26. I just couldn't bring myself to throw down $66 for the hoodie, but I sure wanted to.

This is the bobsled that was used in the Turino games.

Perhaps someday Kate will be back at this facility as a training athlete. Who knows. So I took this shot and then thought, hey, this is the shot they can show when Bob Costas does his special report on how she got her Olympic start.