St. Louis will host the 2020 United States Olympic team trials for gymnastics.
The three-day event will be held at the Enterprise Center starting June 25. This will be the first time the city will host trials for both men’s and women’s gymnastics.
The trials will determine which athletes will represent the United States in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. The U.S. Olympic gymnastics team will be announced at the event.
“As an organization dedicated to raising the profile and impact of St. Louis’ Olympic affiliation, the Sports Commission is honored to host the nation’s top gymnasts on their last stop before the Olympic Games in Tokyo,” said Frank Viverito, president of the St. Louis Sports Commission, in a statement. “We’re grateful to have the opportunity to work with USA Gymnastics once again, and we look forward to partnering with our colleagues at Enterprise Center and our local gymnastics community to deliver an exceptional event next summer.”
St. Louis has a recent history of hosting high-profile gymnastic events. In 2016, St. Louis hosted the U.S. Olympic trials for men’s gymnastics. That year, it held the U.S. women’s national championships. In 2012 and 2000, St. Louis hosted the U.S. gymnastic championships for men’s and women’s gymnastics.
The St. Louis Sports Commission, a nonprofit working to attract sporting events to the city, teamed up with the Enterprise Center to bid for this latest host spot.
Missy Kelley, president of Downtown St. Louis, which promotes economic activity in the city center, says her group wrote a letter in support of the bid. She said she expects the event to boost economic activity downtown, especially for its restaurants.
“When there are events of this scale, that is when their restaurants are visited not only by people coming from the St. Louis area but people across the region who haven’t always considered downtown as a place to go to eat,” said Kelley.
Kelley added she hopes visitors will fill hotels and consider a second trip to St. Louis in the future.
“People come here for a match, and then they realize this is a place they can spend a week and still not see everything, so it often brings people back for a family vacation,” said Kelley.
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