AARP Hearing Center
COVID-19 Update
The museum has taken extensive measures to provide a safe and contactless environment for visitors, including timed ticketing and minute-by-minute attendance caps in each gallery. The museum, café and shop are cash-free and contactless-card-enabled (Visa only). Masks are optional for visitors fully vaccinated for COVID-19. Check the website for the latest protocols.
Most museums would reprimand a visitor for running, but not the United States Olympic & Paralympic Museum in downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado. I'm encouraged not just to run but to sprint down a 25-meter track in an attempt to catch a life-size version of 1936 Olympian Jesse Owens virtually racing on a screen next to me. I crouch down behind the starting line and burst up and forward at the sound of the starter gun. By the time I've taken my first steps, my competition is nearly at the finish line. In true Olympic style, I don't give up, even though I've been left in the dust.
Far more than a collection of memorabilia, this 60,000-square-foot facility, which opened last July, takes you on a journey alongside world-class athletes as they go from training to competition to the medal podium. A fitting addition to Olympic City, home to the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee as well as the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center, the museum bills itself as one of the world's most interactive and accessible museums. The experience lives up to the hype.
Channel your inner athlete on a virtual slalom ski course, holding poles and navigating turns on a screen in front of you, or try your hand at archery, shooting arrows at an LED target. Your scores, along with photos, videos and other highlights of your visit, will be stored in a Digital Locker that you can access by using your smartphone to scan the RFID (radio frequency identification) chip on your visitor badge.
This keepsake badge is the way the museum personalizes every visit. Upon arrival, you note whether you have special needs because of a disability and name your favorite sports. The RFID technology then helps accommodate those preferences when you approach an exhibit — for example, by providing more detailed audio interpretation if you're visually impaired. I got more content about gymnastics and soccer, my two favorite Olympic sports.
Overview
The museum, an eye-catching structure covered on the outside with nearly 9,000 gleaming diamond-shaped panels, doesn't celebrate just winners. You'll also experience Olympians’ heartbreaks through the years, and exhibits honoring the spirit of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Twelve galleries — one rotating and the remainder permanent — follow a narrative arc that begins with the history of the Games, then moves into athlete training and preparation, interactive competitive experiences and the awards ceremonies.
Throughout the museum, you'll see more than 260 artifacts, including gymnast Shannon Miller's signature white scrunchie, one of sprinter Michael Johnson's golden running spikes, Paralympian John Register's prosthetic leg and running shoe, and the wooden Kastle skis Billy Kidd used in 1964 to become the first American to win a medal in Alpine skiing.
State-of-art-technology enhances the artifacts and memorabilia, offering visitors the opportunity to view videos and listen to audio in every gallery.
The experience
It's easy to breeze through the atrium, but take time to pause at the oversized kiosks loaded with bios of all 154 inductees to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame, including boxer Muhammad Ali and para skier Candace Cable.