They may not be as popular as the major professional sports in the United States – especially in “non-Olympic” years – but there are still a large number of fans of Olympic sports like ice skating, track and field, swimming and gymnastics. The annual national championships in these sports usually change location from year-to-year, so there’s a chance they’ll be coming near you in the future. And TheRealPlaces has guides to finding nearby places to stay, wherever they’re being held.
The US Olympic trials for track and field were held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon in 1972, 1976 and 1980 – and they’ll be back on the campus of the University of Oregon again in 2012. The 2012 Olympic trials will be held from June 22 through July 2, resulting in the selection of the majority of the members of the 2012 Olympic team. (The marathon trials will be held in Houston on January 14th.) The 2011 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships will also be held in Eugene (June 23-26, 2011).
Saint Paul, Minnesota is the place to see the U.S. Gymnastic National Championships in 2011. Xcel Energy Center, home of NHL hockey in the winter, will be overrun with gymnasts, families and fans from August 17-20.
Making the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team isn’t solely based on performance in the national championships, but it plays a large part in the decision-making process. The 2012 VISA Championships will be held at Chaifetz Arena at Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri. Happening from June 6th-9th, 2012, the U.S. participants in the 2012 London Olympics will be announced soon thereafter.
The 2011 United States national swimming championships (officially the “ConocoPhillips National Swimming Championships”) will happen August 2-6, 2011 in Palo Alto, California. The Avery Aquatic Center (outdoors!) is on the campus of Stanford University.
The selection of the 2012 U.S. Olympic swimming team will take place at the Olympic trials in Omaha, Nebraska. The Qwest Center Omaha was also the site of the 2008 Olympic trials. The 2012 event will be held from June 25th through July 2nd.
The 2011 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships happened last month in Greensboro, North Carolina, but it’s already time to starting thinking about 2012. Next year the championships will be held at HP Pavilion at San Jose. Fans of Alissa Czisny, Ryan Bradley, Caitlin Yankowskas, John Coughlin, Meryl Davis and Charlie White (the 2011 champs) can look forward to seeing them defend their titles January 22-29, 2012.
