Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Olympic Training Center

When I head for the Olympic Training Center, I have dreams of watching gymnasts fling themselves around on the uneven parallel bars or catching sight of some hulk of a dude sprint in tight shorts while his coach times him with a stop watch.

Doesn’t happen quite that way.

The campus appears deserted when we first arrive, save for a few maintenance guys on golf carts. At the information center, which at the moment is a table stacked with informational papers, we pick up a flier that provides a map and a phone number for a self-guided audio tour. On the backside of the flier is a list of athletes currently in training at the center. Not their names but their sports.

The flier invites us to “stroll down the mile-long Olympic Path to observe our beautiful venues and activities.”

So we do. Although the audio tour proves more trouble than it’s worth (at least with a three-year-old in tow who cares only to examine flowers and pebbles while we stroll), the walk along the palm tree-lined path is beautiful.

John Crawley, the facility's high performance director, helps coaches and teams with their performance plans.

The path passes several training fields and buildings, but from a distance. Offshoot roads that lead from the main path to the buildings all require credentials, or apparently, a teaching license. (We see a couple of school groups down by the training area for track and field.) Although we can hear the music and the clank of weights coming from inside the strength and conditioning building, we can’t see in.

The fields are out in the open, though, and if it weren’t around lunchtime right now, we’d probably get to see some training. Turns out, we’ve barely missed an opportunity to watch the national female rugby team practice. We glimpse the women walking back to the residence halls.

Toward the end of the path, the archery-training area is easily visible, and we watch for a few minutes while an archer shoots.

Though I don’t get to experience the thrill of watching athletes perform, it is more exciting than I’d expected to see the places where they practice and to catch sight of one or two during their downtime. Maybe next time, if we don't come at lunchtime, we’ll see more of them in action.

I think binoculars would be a good idea, too.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Gonzo Report: Eating dinner while little kids mock-mosh at Golden Island

“The tot absorbs the punk rock shot with the skill of experience”

When I head for the Olympic Training Center, I have dreams of watching gymnasts fling themselves around on the uneven parallel bars or catching sight of some hulk of a dude sprint in tight shorts while his coach times him with a stop watch.

Doesn’t happen quite that way.

The campus appears deserted when we first arrive, save for a few maintenance guys on golf carts. At the information center, which at the moment is a table stacked with informational papers, we pick up a flier that provides a map and a phone number for a self-guided audio tour. On the backside of the flier is a list of athletes currently in training at the center. Not their names but their sports.

The flier invites us to “stroll down the mile-long Olympic Path to observe our beautiful venues and activities.”

So we do. Although the audio tour proves more trouble than it’s worth (at least with a three-year-old in tow who cares only to examine flowers and pebbles while we stroll), the walk along the palm tree-lined path is beautiful.

John Crawley, the facility's high performance director, helps coaches and teams with their performance plans.

The path passes several training fields and buildings, but from a distance. Offshoot roads that lead from the main path to the buildings all require credentials, or apparently, a teaching license. (We see a couple of school groups down by the training area for track and field.) Although we can hear the music and the clank of weights coming from inside the strength and conditioning building, we can’t see in.

The fields are out in the open, though, and if it weren’t around lunchtime right now, we’d probably get to see some training. Turns out, we’ve barely missed an opportunity to watch the national female rugby team practice. We glimpse the women walking back to the residence halls.

Toward the end of the path, the archery-training area is easily visible, and we watch for a few minutes while an archer shoots.

Though I don’t get to experience the thrill of watching athletes perform, it is more exciting than I’d expected to see the places where they practice and to catch sight of one or two during their downtime. Maybe next time, if we don't come at lunchtime, we’ll see more of them in action.

I think binoculars would be a good idea, too.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

How I learned to stop worrying about the Chargers and love rugby

We tackle but we keep our heads safe
Next Article

Long Live Pistorius

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader