The U.S. Olympic Festival was a 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 until the name was changed in 1986. It was the nation's largest junior sporting event until it ended in 1995.^[2]

Editions

• 1978 US National Sports Festival – Colorado Springs
• 1979 US National Sports Festival – Colorado Springs
• 1980 – Olympic Year
• 1981 US National Sports Festival – Syracuse, New York ^{[3][4][5][6][7]}
• 1982 US National Sports Festival – Indianapolis^[8]
• 1983 US National Sports Festival – Colorado Springs ^[9][10][11]
• 1984 – Olympic Year
• 1985 US National Sports 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 – Boulder, Colorado

References