History
Upon the 1894 founding of the IOC, the two constituent American members, James Edward Sullivan and William Milligan Sloane, formed a committee to organize the participation of American athletes in the Games of the I Olympiad to be contested two years later in Athens, Greece. The Committee operated under various names until it acquired its present name in 1961. It subsequently assumed responsibility for some training of American participants in the Paralympic Games.
Congress provided a special charter for the Committee as well as due process rights for athletes in the Amateur Sports Act of 1978. The act gave exclusive rights of usage of the words "Olympic" and "Olympiad" to the Olympic Committee. The Committee used this act to sue other organizations which used this term "Olympics", such as the Gay Olympics. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Committee's rights.
The United States Olympic Committee Paralympic Division, U.S. Paralympics, was formed in 2001. The USOC Paralympic Division leads the preparation and selection of athletes to U.S. Paralympic Teams. U.S. Paralympics also works through education, sports programs and partnerships with community organizations, medical facilities and government agencies.
In 2006 the USOC created the Paralympic Military Program with the goal of providing Paralympic sports as a part of the rehabilitation process for injured soldiers.
In October 2007, the ARCO Training Center in Chula Vista, California (see below) was closed temporarily due to the Harris Fire, one of many that ravaged southern California.
In February 2011 the USOC launched an anti-steroid campaign in conjunction with the Ad Council called Play Asterisk Free aimed at teens. The campaign first launched in 2008 under the name Don't Be An Asterisk.
Read more about this topic: United States Olympic Committee
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