Editor’s note: This July, as Colorado Springs gears up for its 150th birthday on the 31st, The Gazette has prepared a series of articles on the history of our city. Check back for fascinating glimpses into the people and events that have shaped Colorado Springs into the landmark it is today.

The events of the most consequential day in Colorado Springs sports history unfolded in a meeting room, out of sight from the public.

Fitting, because as visible as the results of that day have grown – the since-negotiated moniker of “Olympic City USA” greets motorists entering town on Interstate 25 and as they reach the exit doors of the airport – yet the city’s primary role is orchestrating events from behind closed doors.

This was set in motion in Feb. 1976 in Wisconsin where civic leaders made a successful pitch to the United States Olympic Committee, now known as the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, to move from New York to the site of the decommissioned Ent Air Force Base. The base had recently become vacant when NORAD moved some functions to the underground Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, so the city offered the 34 acres and $1 million provided by the El Pomar Foundation to cover relocation costs and landed the organization over Baton Rouge, La., the only other city to try to lure the headquarters.

“Colorado Springs, not then knowing what it would really be gaining, found itself with a small, struggling organization that would grow, prosper and become the most powerful and influential national Olympic Committee in the world,” wrote the late Mike Moran, who joined the Olympic committee shortly after the 10-person operation settled into Colorado Springs on Aug. 1, 1978 and served as its spokesman quarter century.

On Nov. 8, 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed the Olympic and Amateur Sports Act, which consolidated power for non-professional sports and gave a charter and monopoly to the the committee, which then had the authority to charter national governing bodies for sports. This process had begun when President Gerald Ford launched a commission in late 1974 tasked with fixing a system that had led to a disappointing showing in the 1972 Olympic Games. Previously, the Amateur Athletic Union, the NCAA and the USOC had performed a tug of war of power over issues surrounding Olympic sports in the country.

With power consolidated, Colorado Springs became the hub of the Olympic movement in the United States and ecosystem of string-pulling sports outfits sprouted. An Olympic Training Center was soon created and 23 national governing bodies have since moved to the city. The gravitational pull has also brought in the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and the headquarters of the Mountain West Conference.

A 2010 study found that the USOC delivers a $215 million annual economic impact for Colorado Springs. Olympic-related organizations employ more than 2,100 people in the city. Around 13,000 athletes visit the city each year, and even before the 2020 opening of the Olympic Hall of Fame and Museum the city was bringing more than 125,000 visitors to see the training center and other Olympic-related events and sites.

The city’s sports portfolio is deep and diverse, as it has served as home to minor league baseball and soccer, international skating competitions, major golf championships, college sports (including NCAA Division I programs at the Air Force Academy and Colorado College), the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, the annual Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon, professional bike races and a variety of outdoor events.

But in terms of international reach, the city has no greater impact than what emerges from its meeting rooms.

At the USOPC, decisions were made to boycott the 1980 Winter Games in Moscow, provide funding to save the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles and successfully pursue Games that were held in Atlanta and Salt Lake City.

“No other American city can claim this identity,” Mayor John Suthers told The Gazette in 2016. “We have an abundance of world-class athletes training in our scenic venues. Our Olympic-related events and activities are a great contributor to our local economy – to business, to medicine, to education and to our culture. Olympic and Paralympic values and ideals are something we all believe in.

“We should be proud of our affiliation with this timeless brand and enthusiastically claim the title of Olympic City USA.”

Five notable sporting events in Colorado Springs

Pikes Peak races

The Pikes International Hill Climb has been contested 99 times since 1916, as cars and motorcycles zoom up 156 turns to the 14,115-foot summit. The Pikes Peak Marathon was founded in 1956 and is the oldest continually held marathon in the country and includes the unique feature of running up and down America’s Mountain.

Olympic-tied events

With the presence of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, athletes come in and out of the city to train and compete. The Olympic Training Center and its velodrome are home to regular qualifying events and gatherings for Olympic teams.

Broadmoor ice and golf championships

The Broadmoor World Arena, located on the grounds of the hotel when it opened in 1938, hosted the first ten NCAA hockey tournaments from 1948-56, the hockey World Championships in 1962 and World Figure Skating Championships five times from 1957-75. The golf course, opened 1918, has hosted the U.S. Women’s and Senior Open and the U.S. Amateur.

Minor league sports

Colorado Springs served as a minor league affiliate for the Chicago White Sox from 1950-58, then rejoined the scene in 1988 and served as the Triple-A club for three franchises through 2018, when they dropped to the Rookie League level. They are now the Rocky Mountain Vibes and play in an MLB-partnered independent league. The Colorado Springs Switchbacks arrived in 2015, bringing minor league soccer to the city, and in 2021 began play in a new downtown stadium.

College sports

The Air Force Academy, featuring a football team that has finished seven seasons in the nation’s top 25 and a basketball team that has made four runs to the NCAA Tournament, and Colorado College, with a now-defunct football team that once featured future NFL Hall of Famer Dutch Clark and a nationally acclaimed hockey program, keep the annual calendar full of NCAA Division I events.

Five notable athletes from Colorado Springs

Henry Cejudo

“Triple-C” attended Coronado High School while training at the Olympic Training Center. He won gold as an Olympic wrestler and two division championship belts in UFC, compiling one of the best portfolios in combat sports history.

Dow Finsterwald

An 11-time winner on the PGA Tour and the 1958 PGA Championship winner who played on four Ryder Cup teams and served as the captain in 1977, Finsterwald was the director of golf at The Broadmoor for 28 years.

Peggy Fleming

The figure skater and 1968 Olympic gold medalist was a student at Cheyenne Mountain while training at The Broadmoor Skating Club and attended Colorado College.

Rich “Goose” Gossage

The Hall of Fame pitcher was raised locally and attended Wasson High School. He was a nine-time All-Star, including five times with the New York Yankees, and led the American League in saves three times.

Haleigh Washington

A state volleyball champion at Doherty and two-time Colorado Player of the Year, she went on to become a three-time first-team All-American at Penn State, winning an NCAA title, and she started all three matches to help Team USA qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games.