Challenge Aspen Rises To A New Level

February 27th, 2007 at 05:57am Post Staff 43

ASPEN, COLORADO (Post Time News)–The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and Challenge Aspen raised the curtain on the Veterans Paralympic Performance Program (VP3), an expanded military program to  provide elite-level sports programming and training for physically disabled veterans.

In concert with the Department of Veterans Affairs, the USOC and Challenge Aspen intend to offer qualified athletes the opportunity to train as fulltime resident athletes at Olympic and Paralympic Training Sites throughout the United States: here in Aspen, at Olympic and Paralympic Training Sites in Birmingham, Alabama, and Edmond, Oklahoma, and at the U.S. Olympic Training Centers at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Michigan; Chula Vista, California; and Colorado Springs, Colorado, and.
 
"Challenge Aspen is playing an important role in the growth of our Paralympic program," said U.S. Olympic Committee chief operating officer Norman Bellingham. "We are focused on expanding the availability of Paralympic sports programming for veterans and persons with physical disabilities, and Challenge Aspen will give them the opportunity to participate in physical fitness at the local level and pursue their dreams of representing America at the Paralympic Games."

Since 1995, Challenge Aspen has provided adaptive recreational and cultural opportunities to thousands of individuals with disabilities from around the world. Based in Aspen, Colorado, Challenge Aspen is widely considered a leader and innovator offering safe, expert instruction and competitive ski-racing and educational programs. Challenge Aspen also provides outstanding summer therapeutic art and drama camps to children with physical and mental disabilities, and adaptive wilderness experiences and elite race training for Veterans with disabilities.
 
“America’s veterans deserve the best,” said U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson. “For physically disabled veterans interested in representing the United States in Paralympic sports competition, that means receiving world-class training in facilities operated by the U.S. Olympic Committee. This partnership also builds upon the character, dedication and skill of physically disabled veterans who are more interested in their abilities than their disabilities.”

Entry Filed under: Sports, Aspen