CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (KRDO) — There’s a quiet, but significant, Olympic shift to North Carolina that’s gaining momentum — and it’s at the expense of an Olympic presence in Colorado Springs.
So felt, that insiders describe the Springs-based Olympic and Paralympic Training Center, which now houses a fragment of Olympic hopefuls, as a “ghost town.”
Three National Governing Bodies, which are divisions of each Olympic sport, that previously based their full-time training in Colorado Springs, have moved to train at the U.S. Performance Center, based in Charlotte: USA Archery, USA Field Hockey, and USA Taekwondo.
Multiple officials at Colorado Springs-based National Governing Bodies, confirm with KRDO13 that they, too, are considering a move to North Carolina.
Where are they going?
The U.S. Performance Center was founded in 2013 and has successfully branded itself as an elite training facility. The brainchild of Ike Belk, it has quickly become the hotspot for athletes wishing to represent the United States on the world platform. The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee designated it as one of its Development Programs in 2015.