United States Olympic Committee

Founded in 1894 and headquartered in Colorado Springs, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) is the National Olympic Committee for the United States. In addition, the USOC is one of only four NOCs in the world that also serve as the National Paralympic Committee for their country. The USOC is responsible for supporting, entering and overseeing U.S. teams for the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Youth Olympic Games, Pan American Games and Parapan American Games and serves as the steward of the Olympic and Paralympic Movements in the United States.

The Olympic Movement is overseen by the International Olympic Committee. The IOC is supported by 35 International Federations that govern each sport on a global level, National Olympic Committees that oversee Olympic sport as a whole in each nation, and National Federations that administer each sport at the national level (called National Governing Bodies in the United States).

Similarly, the National Paralympic Committee is the sole governing body responsible for the selection and training of all athletes participating in the Paralympic Games.

United States national team

Team USA or United States national team may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions.

Olympic teams

Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as the FIBA Basketball World Cup and World Championship for Women, the Ice Hockey World Championships, the FIFA World Cup, or the World Figure Skating Championships. The list includes sports that have Olympic competitions, even if the United States team has never participated (marked with an asterisk *).

United States

Coordinates: 40°N 100°W / 40°N 100°W / 40; -100

The United States of America (USA), commonly referred to as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a federal republic composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major territories and various possessions. The 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., are in central North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwestern part of North America and the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. At 3.8 million square miles (9.842 million km²) and with over 320 million people, the country is the world's third or fourth-largest by total area and the third most populous. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The geography and climate of the United States are also extremely diverse, and the country is home to a wide variety of wildlife.

International Olympic Committee

Coordinates: 46°31′5″N 6°35′49″E / 46.51806°N 6.59694°E / 46.51806; 6.59694

The International Olympic Committee (IOC; French: Comité international olympique, CIO) is an international, non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin, on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president. Today its membership consists of 100 active members, 32 honorary members, and 1 honour member. The IOC is the supreme authority of the worldwide modern Olympic movement.

The IOC organises the modern Olympic Games and Youth Olympic Games, held in summer and winter, every four years. The first Summer Olympics organised by the IOC was held in Athens, Greece, in 1896; the first Winter Olympics was in Chamonix, France, in 1924. Until 1992, both Summer and Winter Olympics were held in the same year. After that year, however, the IOC shifted the Winter Olympics to the even years between Summer Games, to help space the planning of the two events from one another, and improve the financial balance of the IOC, which receives greater income on Olympic years. The first Summer Youth Olympics were in Singapore in 2010 and the first Winter Youth Olympics were held in Innsbruck in 2012.