This is not the first time that a U.S. Olympic delegation has built its headquarters outside an Olympic village. The USOC established a similar site for U.S. athletes at the American University of Greece for the 2004 Athens Games. Unlike other delegations whose use of official Olympic training centers are limited by the schedules of the facilities, the U.S. team will have exclusive access to the sports compound at BNU.

To create a training center with features and conditions similar to its training base in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the U.S. Olympic team has transported its own sports equipment to BNU. The equipment includes wrestling mats, gymnastic apparatuses and equipment cleansers, according to a report by Xinhua News Agency. The USOC's official partners provided most of the equipment.

"We've worked with our partners as well as equipment manufacturers to discuss what equipment they would like to have in the high performance center," said Derek Gallup, Vice President of Fitness Operations of 24 Hour Fitness, the official fitness center sponsor of the U.S. Olympic team.

Gallup told Beijing Review that the California-based fitness club, which formed a partnership with the USOC in 2000, has been supporting the U.S. Olympic team by setting up equipment in Colorado Springs and Olympic host cities. But this is the first time that it will be sending a team of trainers to Beijing for the athletes. The company selected 21 "fitness ambassadors" from more than 4,000 trainers to travel to Beijing in three groups throughout the duration of the Games. Each group will consist of seven trainers who will stay in the capital for approximately two weeks.

"Our main task over there would be to make sure that the facilities and equipment run smoothly," said Kurt Weinreich, Jr., a certified master trainer who has been working with 24 Hour Fitness for 10 years and was chosen as a fitness ambassador. Weinreich is in the third group, which will leave for Beijing on August 13. He and his team members will provide support to athletes from all sports disciplines at BNU's center.

Weinreich said he is very excited about the Olympic Games and expects the U.S. team to have great results.

"We were watching the Olympic trials here," Weinreich said. "They were really exciting. There were a lot of American and world records being broken during the trials."

At the last Summer Olympic Games in Athens four years ago, the United States topped both the gold-medal count and overall medal tables with 36 and 102, respectively.

Chowing down

The USOC will provide chefs and caterers for meals for the athletes at BNU. According to the contract with the university, the U.S. team will have access to three restaurants on the university campus, one of which can accommodate and feed about 400 athletes at a time.

Earlier U.S. reports said the Americans were bringing their own food to China, fearing lax safety standards and the possibility of steroids being added to their meals. Nicole Saunches, Manager of Marketing Communications at USOC, said the organization's corporate partners, such as Kellogg, which will provide bars and breakfast cereals, and Tyson Foods, which will provide meats, are shipping their products to China, because they have agreements with the USOC to provide them free of charge.