The Chula Vista Olympic Training Center celebrated its 20th anniversary on Sunday, June 7, with a public celebration that attracted an estimated 2,500 visitors to the 155-acre site overlooking the Lower Otay Reservoir.
CV-OTC resident athletes were stationed at nearly every venue on the campus during the seven-hour event. Visitors had the unique opportunity to speak with resident athletes and also attend demonstrations and other interactive events.
“Everything went really well,” CV-OTC media relations coordinator Emily Cox said.
Neatly summed up, it was a day filled with once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
The free celebration provided the public with an abundance of activities. Throughout the day, guests had the opportunity to give different Olympic and Paralympic sports a try. They could ride a BMX bike, shoot archery, aim for a field hockey goal, pass a rugby ball, spike a beach volleyball, kick around the soccer ball, play wheelchair tennis or experience running with a blindfold and guide runner like some of the CV-OTC’s visually impaired athletes.
For those more interested in spectating, Olympic and Paralympic sport demonstrations by CV-OTC resident athletes and special guests kicked off throughout the day on a staggered timeline so that event attendees could see everything.
Demonstrations included archery, rugby, field hockey, BMX Supercross, track and field and wheelchair tennis. The latter demonstration included three-time Paralympic gold medalist David Wagner joined by Greg Hasterok.
The track demonstration events included javelin, shot put, long and triple jumps and blind running.
Besides the public celebration, there was a VIP breakfast earlier in the morning where Olympians and Paralympians spoke with attendees.
Along with sports activities there was music, food and fun. Local bands performed live music and an assortment of local food trucks on-site with food for purchase. The community expo included a variety of local organizations represented with information and activities.
Photo opportunities were aplenty with a real Olympic torch and numerous Olympians, Paralympians and CV-OTC resident athletes in attendance.
Up and running
Recent events at the CV-OTC included the Chula Vista Community Fun Run on May 16 and the CV-OTC High Performance track meet May 22-23.
The Chula Vista Community Fun Run’s 5K course snaked throughout the OTC campus while the event raised money for youth programming in the city of Chula Vista’s Recreation Department.
The high performance track meet featured athletes from around the world competing in jumps, throws and running events. Multi-event athlete competition (heptathlon/decathlon) also took place on each day.
