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Greensboro prepares to host Junior Olympics

The AAU Junior Olympics will be held July 24 through August 3 at multiple locations in the Triad. Photo courtesy of Greensboro Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The AAU Junior Olympics will be held July 24 through August 3 at multiple locations in the Triad. Photo courtesy of Greensboro Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Greensboro is gearing up to welcome thousands of athletes and visitors to the Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympic Games. 

This will be the third time the Gate City hosts the games following successful runs in 2019 and 2022. Officials say the eight-day competition is expected to draw about 40,000 visitors, including athletes, their families, coaches, and spectators. 

According to a news release, the Junior Olympics is the largest multi-sport event for youth in the U.S. Track and field is the main draw, with other events including wrestling, karate, swimming, basketball, and field hockey.  

Henri Fourrier is President and CEO of the Greensboro Convention and Visitors Bureau. He says the games are a prestigious event to have on the city’s resume.

"Not only is it bringing $49 million to our community over the length of the competition, but it keeps us in the sites of other organizing committees and organizations to hold their competitions," says Fourrier.

The AAU Junior Olympics will be held July 24 through August 3 at multiple locations in the Triad. Fourrier says the event is scheduled to return to Greensboro two more times. 

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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