GENEVA, Ohio - From sprinter Tianna Madison to pole vaulter Tim Mack, elite Northeast Ohio athletes have routinely left the area to train for the Olympic gold medals they went on to win.
The “jock drain” could be about to reverse course, and future Olympic Games might have more local flavor, pending an expected announcement Friday that select U.S. athletes will train at the Spire Institute in Geneva.
The nearest Olympic training centers are in Wisconsin and New Jersey. Adding Northeast Ohio to the roster could enhance the area’s reputation as a global player, said David Gilbert, president of the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission.
“There are certain organizations that get you where you want to be, and the USOC is clearly one of those at the top of that list,” he said. “To have one of the most recognizable brands in the world coming here would mean a lot.
“Down the road, it will have very practical benefits — from hosting more events and having more people train there.”
It appears athletes in track and field and men’s Paralympic (wheelchair) basketball will be the first to arrive at Spire, and other sports could follow.
Several of the existing, independently owned training sites used by the USOC are tailored to specific sports such as a sailing center in Miami and a shooting complex in Texas. Spire’s multiple, state-of-the-art facilities give the USOC options for its teams — and the athletes themselves. Once there, athletes will have cross-training options not available at other sites.
Independent U.S. Olympic training sites
The U.S. Olympic Committee owns and operates training centers in Colorado Springs, Colo.; Chula Vista., Calif.; and Lake Placid, N.Y. It also has agreements with 12 independent training sites around the United States:
- Pettit National Ice Center, Milwaukee
- Princeton National Rowing Association, Princeton Junction, N.J.
- University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond, Okla
- Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation, Park City, Utah
Spire contains one of the country’s largest indoor/outdoor tracks, a highly regarded aquatics complex, an indoor courts and fields building and a training-performance center run by Olympic gold medalist Michael Johnson. There is more than 750,000 square feet of training space under three roofs, in addition to an outdoor track and football stadium.
“Spire is such an amazing complex, and it really is a world-class sports facility,” Gilbert said. “Sometimes, that vernacular is overused, but, in this case, in terms of the size and quality, it’s a very accurate way to describe it.”
Training Olympians and Paralympians alongside local athletes and regular people, as well as wounded veterans, was part of Spire founder and primary funder Ron Clutter’s vision when the $60 million-plus facility quietly began taking shape alongside Interstate 90 in 2008.
USOC leaders toured it as it neared completion in 2011, and its men’s wheelchair basketball and junior national volleyball teams have made extended training visits there.
The USOC also gave Spire a grant last fall to work with wounded veterans in Paralympic sports.
Part of Spire’s initial blueprint was to include dorms for high school and postgraduate athletes who now train there. Those plans were put on hold, and athletes are instead being housed at Andrews Osborne Academy and Quail Hollow Resort in Lake County. An influx of long-term Olympic hopefuls could lead to Spire revisiting its dorm plans, a source said.
Today’s announcement coincides with Spire hosting the Big Ten Indoor Track & Field Championships and the Atlantic 10 Swimming and Diving Championships today and Saturday.
Last week, the Big East indoor track meet was held there. Future events include the 2014 NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships.