COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The United States Olympic & Paralympic Museum celebrated Olympic & Paralympic Day today with athlete-led, youth sport demonstrations on the Museum Plaza. The event kicked off the USOPM’s Colorado Grand Opening, a series of weekly activities and events at the Museum running July through Labor Day (September 6).
Team USA athletes Dartanyon Crockett (Para judo // 2012, 2016 // 2x bronze medalist), Tricia Downing (Para shooting // 2016), Michelle Dusserre Farrell (gymnastics // 1984 // silver medalist), and Hunter Kemper (triathlon // 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012) led youth from Becoming Your Personal Best: Life Lessons from Olympians and Paralympians through sport demos on Olympic & Paralympic Day.
“This will be the first of many events officially welcoming Colorado into the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum,” said Phil Lane, USOPM acting CEO. “We are looking forward to providing the state with a variety of Olympic and Paralympic speakers, autograph sessions, live entertainment and more. You never know who you’ll run into when you walk through these doors.”
The Colorado Grand Opening aims to feature two-to-three events per week at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum. Activities will range from athlete meet-and-greets to sport demonstrations and will take place through Labor Day. Many of the events will be open to the public, and announcements regarding the opportunities will be shared online and through the Museum’s social media channels.
The USOPM Tokyo Games Fan Fest will be one of the Museum’s featured events during the Colorado Grand Opening. The USOPM’s Fan Fest will be held on the Museum Plaza with activities on S. Sierra Madre Street and Vermijo Street. The free, four-day celebration will be filled with live entertainment, a wide selection of food and beverages, athlete-led sport demonstrations, a 50-foot viewing screen airing the Tokyo Games, and more.
The award-winning attraction opened in July 2020 under heavy restrictions due to COVID-19, which limited its 2020 grand opening ceremony to only a few masked individuals. Having been named one of the top tourist destinations in Colorado Springs and the “Best New Attraction” of 2020 by USA Today, the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum is using this nearly two-month celebration to welcome guests on an Olympic and Paralympic scale.
“We certainly didn’t open under the best conditions,” said Dusserre Farrell, USOPM’s VP of athlete engagement. “But like the champions honored in the museum, we persevered. Now the USOPM is not only a popular travel destination, but a symbol of beauty, success and hope in the face of adversity.”
Be sure to keep up with more of the latest news and announcements from USOPM!
