U.S. Olympic Festival

The U.S. Olympic Festival was a junior multi-sport event held in the United States by the United States Olympic Committee in the years between the Olympic Games. It was started in 1978 as an American counterpart to the communist Spartakiad – a similar event held on a quadrennial basis by the former Soviet Union and its former satellite in East Germany. As the competitive position of U.S. athletes in the Olympics slipped relative to that of the Soviets and East Germans, it was felt the U.S. needed some kind of multi-sports event to simulate the Olympic experience.^[1] It was originally called the National Sports Festival and was the nation's largest junior sporting event, before ending in 1995.^[2]

Editions

• 1978 US Olympic Festival – Colorado Springs
• 1979 US Olympic Festival – Colorado Springs
• 1980 – Olympic Year
• 1981 US Olympic Festival – Syracuse, New York ^{[3][4][5][6][7]}
• 1982 US Olympic Festival – Indianapolis^[8]
• 1983 US Olympic Festival – Colorado Springs ^[9][10][11]
• 1984 – Olympic Year
• 1985 US Olympic Festival – Baton Rouge, Louisiana ^{[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]}
• 1986 US Olympic Festival – Houston, Texas ^[20][21][22]
• 1987 US Olympic Festival – Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina ^[23][24]
• 1988 – Olympic Year
• 1989 US Olympic Festival – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• 1990 US Olympic Festival – Minneapolis, Minnesota
• 1991 US Olympic Festival – Los Angeles, California ^[25]
• 1992 – Olympic Year
• 1993 US Olympic Festival – San Antonio, Texas
• 1994 US Olympic Festival – St. Louis, Missouri
• 1995 US Olympic Festival – Denver, Colorado

References

1. Hersh, Philip. "Olympic Festival's Success May Cause Its Demise". Chicago Tribune.
2. Reid, Ron. "Olympic Festival Was A Big Hit In Oklahoma". philly.com.
3. "National Sports Festival Results - UPI Archives". Upi.com. July 29, 1981. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
4. "National Sports Festival At Syracuse, N.Y., July 28 - UPI Archives". Upi.com. July 28, 1981. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
5. "National Sports Festival at Syracuse, N.Y., July 26 - UPI Archives". Upi.com. July 26, 1981. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
6. "National Sports Festival Figure Skating - UPI Archives". Upi.com. July 24, 1981. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
7. "The United States Olympic Committee's 1982 National Sports Festival,... - UPI Archives". Upi.com. February 1, 1981. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
8. "Diving Results, National Sports Festival Diving preliminaries At Indianapolis, July 21 - UPI Archives". Upi.com. July 21, 1982. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
9. "VolleyballPARA:WomenPARA:West def. East, 11-15, 15-6, 15-10, 17-15PARA:WomenPARA:Gold Medal GamePARA:West (96) - UPI Archives". Upi.com. July 1, 1983. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
10. "Results of Sunday's events at the fifth National Sports... - UPI Archives". Upi.com. June 27, 1983. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
11. "Results from Saturday's events at the fifth National Sports... - UPI Archives". Upi.com. June 25, 1983. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
12. "National Sports Festival Results;NEWLN:At Baton Rouge, La., Aug. 4, 1985 - UPI Archives". Upi.com. August 4, 1985. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
13. "Men's Single Short Program - UPI Archives". Upi.com. August 2, 1985. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
14. "National Sports Festival Results Field Hockey Gold Medal Game - UPI Archives". Upi.com. August 3, 1985. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
15. "Results of Monday's competition at the sixth National Sports... - UPI Archives". Upi.com. July 29, 1985. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
16. "Results from Sunday's competition in the National Sports Festival:... - UPI Archives". Upi.com. July 28, 1985. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
17. "Results from Saturday's competition at the sixth National Sports... - UPI Archives". Upi.com. July 27, 1985. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
18. "National Sports Festival Results At Baton Rouge, La., July 25 - UPI Archives". Upi.com. July 25, 1985. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
19. "Athletes competing in the 1985 National Sports Festival next... - UPI Archives". Upi.com. June 25, 1985. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
20. "U.S. Olympic Festival Results - UPI Archives". Upi.com. July 26, 1986. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
21. "Desert Sun 2 August 1986 — California Digital Newspaper Collection". Cdnc.ucr.edu. August 2, 1986. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
22. "Olympic Festival - facts, figures - UPI Archives". Upi.com. July 19, 1986. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
23. https://www.trianglesportscommission.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/1987-USOF-Results.pdf^{[bare URL PDF]}
24. "Olympic Festival Results - UPI Archives". Upi.com. July 18, 1987. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
25. JEFF HASEN UPI Sports Writer (July 13, 1991). "Boxers De la Hoya, Griffin win at U.S. Olympic Festival - UPI Archives". Upi.com. Retrieved February 25, 2022.