CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Nearly 600 athletes will represent Team USA at the Olympics in Paris this summer and about 90 train in Charlotte.
"A lot of people think that the Olympic movement was west coast, New York, Texas," Ike Belk said. "Well, North Carolina has something to say about that."
Belk and co-founder/owner David Koerner show off their state-of-the-art U.S. Performance Center as athletes from the men’s Rugby team prepare for Paris.
Located on the UNC Charlotte campus, the center partners with the national governing bodies of 15 sports under the Olympics umbrella.
Eight of those teams are in residence, meaning they are headquartered in Charlotte.
- Archery
- Canoe
- Field hockey
- Judo
- Rugby (men's)
- Table Tennis
- Taekwondo
- Triathlon
For these world-class athletes, the U.S. Performance Center offers everything they need.
“Everything is in one place," CJ Nickolas, a member of Team USA Taekwondo said. "I don’t have to commute to a bunch of different places. Everything I need is in this building or across the way in the taekwondo building.”
For field hockey player Ashley Hoffman, the center’s specialized blue turf replicates what the team will play on in Paris.
"Sometimes you go to fields that you haven’t trained on and it’s really thick and it plays completely different," Hoffman said. "I think there’s a real advantage every day playing on this turf. It does make a big difference.”
Belk, the grandson of local philanthropist, former politician, and U.S. Olympic Committee member Irwin Belk, played tennis at Clemson and then professionally. That’s where he met Koerner as a trainer.
Over a decade ago, they hatched the idea for this place.
“We were sitting together in a Barnes & Noble parking lot," Belk said, "calling the Olympic Committee of asking them 'how do we get involved with the Olympic movement?'”
The pair first opened a facility in south Charlotte in 2012 and eventually moved to the UNCC location.
They have attracted teams to their location at a rapid rate.
Why? They’ve got the good stuff - from sports medicine, sports psychology, mental health to nutrition. The center also features over a dozen patents on its weight room equipment.
"The equipment in here is nowhere else in the world," Koerner said. "What we’re able to do in this weight room is measure the neurological system in a way that hasn’t been done before. So we can prevent injury, and maximize performance.”
It doesn't seem like the center is slowing down. Good performances in Paris would help it grow.
"The results speak for themselves," Belks said. "If you're winning gold medals, you're absolutely going to go to the place that has the best sports science and best training in the country.”
Beyond Paris, Belk and Koerner want to expand from 15 to 30 teams.
"We'd love to be representing the majority of the athletes that are participating in the LA games," Koerner said.
For the U.S. Performance Center, it's about making Charlotte the center of Team USA's preparations for the Games.
"We really want to set up our community to have a say where the next Olympics will be, or next Pan American Games," Belk said. "We want Charlotte to be a host for many events that happen in the future.”
Contact Nick Carboni at ncarboni@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.