USOC Nearing End of CEO Search

(ATR) United States Olympic Committee chairman Larry Probst expects to fill the organization's chief executive position "in a couple of weeks or potentially less".

The USOC has been without a permanent chief executive since Scott Blackmun resigned at the end of February amid treatment for prostate cancer. The USOC board of directors received an update on the search at a meeting today in Washington, D.C.

Probst said in a media briefing after the meeting the USOC is looking for a candidate who is a "strong leader, someone that communicates effectively with all the different constituencies". The new chief executive would be focused on leading the USOC through the ongoing multiple sexual abuse scandals plaguing various National Governing Bodies.

Candidates for the position are believed to be split evenly between men and women, according to the Wall Street Journal. Acting chief executive Susanne Lyons was offered the permanent position, but reportedly declined.

In addition to the chief executive search, the USOC board met with USA Gymnastics president and CEO Kerry Perry to discuss changes being made to the NGB. USA Gymnastics announced this week a new board of directors that will be installed in the beginning of July.

Lyons said that Perry admitted to the USOC that changing the culture of USA Gymnastics "is going to be the longest and hardest" part in reforming the organization.

"I think she is waiting to see what the independent investigation will reveal and I think that will help guide additional changes with individuals," Lyons said. "Who knew what, and when, is something she’d like to have a little bit more data before she takes actions. Long term this is an area we discussed with them at length. The need to have a culture that does not make it difficult for people to speak up, and not a culture of retribution, so there is a knowledge that needs to be changed.

"How that will be changed will be a longer term progress, so I think she made a lot of good first steps but there is a long way to go."

Perry testified before the House of Representatives alongside Lyons last month, Perry’s first public attempt at answering questions after taking over the position in December. Perry did not speak with the media following her testimony, and still has not done so in her capacity as president.

Lyons said that USOC leadership met with four senators on Capitol Hill while in Washington and expects another hearing by the Senate Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance, and Data Security subcommittee in mid-July. Lyons said that she met with Senators Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), who head the subcommittee and Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Joni Ernst (R-IA).

Both Senators Shaheen and Ernst gave testimony in a Senate subcommittee hearing earlier this month, pressing for changes to the Ted Stevens Amateur Sports Act, which chartered the USOC and defines its relationship with NGBs.

Lyons said that the discussions with the senators were "forward looking and productive," as they were interested in receiving an update on progress the USOC has made. She said it was "to be determined" if any legislative changes need to be made to the Amateur Sports Act, or if policy changes and rewriting some of the USOC bylaws would be enough.

"It is very clear that language needs to be clarified on what our authorities are and what are capabilities are on oversight and athlete safety," Lyons added.

The USOC said it is also compelling all NGBs to compile lists of all suspended and banned individuals, so the U.S. Center for SafeSport can centralize the information in an accessible database. Currently only a handful of NGBs publish banned lists online, and some coaches work in multiple sports complicating some of the data, Lyons said.

"It’s [currently] not at all homogenous; we are requiring that information be sent forward and we are working technologically to create the database to make that available," Lyons said. "We think that will be an important step in the right direction."

Written by Aaron Bauer

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