Greetings from Colorado Springs!

We are Stuart and Christina, summer interns at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. We would like to welcome you to the first edition of an insider's view of the training center and athlete life from the base of Pike's Peak. Through our weekly blogs, we hope to bring you a behind-the-scenes look of an intern's and an athlete's daily life and show you how the Olympic facilities operate.

We will explore what's on the menu for Team USA, showcase sport camps that come through the training center this summer, and brief you on what our Olympic and Paralympic heroes do when they're not training.

But first, we will address how athletes who train in these facilities qualify to come here.

The most recognizable resident athletes on complex - those of Olympic or Paralympic caliber - must meet specific performance criteria to compete in upcoming Olympic, Pan Am or World Championship Games.

At the next level - those of national caliber - athletes must be Senior National Team members and/or have been selected for international competition at events other than the big three.

Finally, you have those athletes at the junior national level. They must either be a part of the Junior National Team or eligible for selection to international competition.

In addition, there are a bunch of little campers roaming the grounds - the nation's potential future stars.

The complex really does take a person from a small-town playground to the world's stage. It provides competition against the best in order to become the best, and just the atmosphere of it all can send butterflies through the stomach of anyone with a beating heart.

One of the funniest sights living among all these athletes is watching the campers' faces in the dining hall when an elite athlete enters the line. Last week, a young gymnast, probably about 12-years-old, stood in line for his grilled cheese sandwich when one of the U-19 men's basketball players' shadows came over him. The gymnast was so intimidated that he let the basketball player go ahead of him in line.

As interns, we are given a room key and a meal card just like the athletes, and thus we have an insider's take of athlete life. We have already had golden opportunities, including playing pick-up basketball with members of the USA Basketball Under-16 team and playing ultimate frisbee with the wrestlers. We have spotted swimmers Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff during meals, and have spoken with Beijing flag bearer Lopez Lomong (track and field) and bronze medalist Joey Hagerty (gymnastics).

Although we may have an insider's view, our aim is to bring you into the complex with us. As Americans, we all deserve to know how these athletes are training to represent our country on the international stage. But this also means we must all support them as a nation. (Yes, this is a quick plug for "America Supports Team USA.")

So, as we approach Uncle Sam's birthday, don't forget that America's athletes must train day in and day out for those ten seconds on the track or three minutes on the ice. It's not just one or two years of preparation - it's a lifetime of training and dedication.