Team USA Media & Promotion

U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Hall of Fame Revival

Envisioned as a lasting tribute to American athletes and the Olympic and Paralympic ideals, the United States Olympic & Paralympic Hall of Fame was established to celebrate the achievements of Team USA athletes and their pursuit of excellence, on and off the field of play. In 2019, following a six-year hiatus, the USOPC revived the hall of fame under a new name—one that reflects its commitment to Paralympic inclusion—and a fresh format that will induct a new class comprised of Olympic and Paralympic athletes and legends, and one team, coach and special contributor every two years. Starting with the class of 2019, the hall of fame will see increased Paralympic representation and induct two legends in each class—developments that were led by the Team USA athlete community.

Originally established in 1979, the hall of fame’s class of 2019 joined an esteemed group of 154 inductees who have enhanced the Olympic and Paralympic movements through their legacy and contributions, both on and off the field of play. The 2019 honorees represented Team USA at a combined 36 Olympic and Paralympic Games, tallying 79 medals—including 43 golds.

Inductees were determined by a voting process that featured Olympians and Paralympians, members of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic family, and an online vote open to fans. The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Hall of Fame was one of the first national sports halls of fame to include fan voting as part of its selection process, and in 2019, nearly 200,000 votes were cast at TeamUSA.org.

The class of 2019 was honored at an induction ceremony at the Colorado Springs Olympic & Paralympic Training Center in November, which coincided with the U.S. Olympians & Paralympians Association Reunion—bringing hundreds of esteemed American athletes together for a momentous celebration of personal excellence, sport and humanity.

Team USA Awards

The Team USA Awards presented by Dow continued its monthly voting across Team USA digital and social channels in 2019, celebrating monthly accolades for outstanding U.S. male, female and team performances. The Team USA Awards, Best of the Year ceremony was held in Los Angeles in November, recognizing the top accomplishments of athletes, teams and coaches of the year. Airing as a one-hour feature on NBC and hosted by Olympic gold medalist in wrestling, Jordan Burroughs, the ceremony was also highlighted by Olympian Amy Van Dyken winning the Jesse Owens Olympic Spirit Award, and featured special medal reallocation ceremonies for the Team USA two-man and four-man bobsled teams from the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014.

Fan engagement throughout the year was strong, as more than 640,000 fan votes were recorded throughout the monthly honors and more than 525,000 fan votes led to the annual award winners, in addition to input from members of the Olympic and Paralympic community.

Next Olympic Hopeful

Momentum for “Milk Life presents, The Next Olympic Hopeful” continued to grow as the third season crowned six winners in 2019. Following nearly 5,000 contestant applications, which marked a 45% increase from the year prior, winners were named in the sports of bobsled, cycling, rowing, rugby sevens, skeleton and weightlifting. Most notable, winner Alex Mustard won three North American cup medals in bobsled in the 2019-20 season. The program—which was designed to enhance the pipeline of world-class athletes pursuing Olympic sport, promoted the concept of talent identification and provided media exposure for participating National Governing Bodies. Additionally, the program has seen 32 medals won on the international stage from participants in its first three seasons.

Team USA Journey

The Team USA Journey presented by OREO, a one-of-a-kind interactive social media experience, began its 20-stop tour across the country, bringing the spirit of the Olympic and Paralympic movements to Team USA fans ahead of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020. The Journey featured an immersive experience that engaged and connected fans with Team USA. During the eight stops held in 2019, digital impressions reached nearly 3.9 million, while nearly 445,000 fans immersed themselves in the energy and excitement of the Journey.

One-Year Countdown to the Tokyo Games

The USOPC joined fans from around the world on July 24 in commemorating the one-year countdown to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 with several promotional activities and athlete appearances. In partnership with Games broadcaster NBC, the USOPC brought 16 athletes from 10 sports to New York for interviews, photo shoots, panel discussions, NBC promotions and a youth sports clinic with the Boys & Girls Club of Harlem. Additional activity included community outreach events with U.S. athletes in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Orlando, Florida, and Tokyo.

NBC-USOPC Promotional Shoot

The NBC-USOPC Promotional Shoot hosted 110 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls from 32 Olympic and Paralympic sports—vying to compete at the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020—in Los Angeles for five days of video shoots in what is considered by many as one of the greatest content collection events in the history of broadcast production and marketing. More than a dozen platforms of NBC Universal and the Team USA network gathered content with all 110 athletes to promote the athletes and their stories in the lead up to the Tokyo Games.

Driven by its global purpose to build a better and more inclusive world through sport, the USOPC is committed to strengthening the worldwide Olympic and Paralympic movements by serving as a fully integrated and engaged global partner—and was recognized as such by topping the International Sports Political Power Index in 2019. Americans hold more than 450 international board, executive committee, leadership and commission positions, including two International Olympic Committee members, one International Federation president, four IF secretaries general and nine IF vice presidents. Among the highlights of 2019 was David Haggerty’s re-election as president of the International Tennis Federation, which resulted in his nomination for election as an IOC member.

With these efforts, the USOPC also granted more than $400,000 across 22 National Governing Bodies to support their international efforts. Additionally, the U.S. hosted two world championships and several international meetings, including the IOC Athlete 365 Career+ Forum, IPC Athletes’ Forum, the 4th Americas Best Practices Symposium and Panam Sports Executive Committee meeting.

The USOPC also continues to support bilateral agreements with six National Olympic Committees as well as agreements with the Continental Associations of Africa and Asia—aimed at sharing best practices and strengthening collaboration. The USOPC partnered with Olympic Solidarity and the University of Delaware for the 12th edition of the International Coaching Enrichment Certificate Program, where nearly 363 international coaches representing 116 countries and 33 sports have participated in the program since its inception, as well as for the eighth edition of the International Coaching Apprenticeship in Basketball (ICAB) program, whereby 49 international coaches representing 40 countries have participated in the program. ICAB is offered in partnership with USA Basketball, and through the support of 15 universities across the United States.

The USOPC also worked with government agencies to facilitate visa and entry support for international athletes, coaches and officials from 80 nations traveling to the U.S. for competition and meetings in 2019. The two U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Centers hosted nearly 1,000 athletes, coaches and officials from 68 nations to help raise the international level of sport and enrich U.S. athletes and coaches, both athletically and culturally.