Next Steps for U.S. Olympic Reforms

(ATR) Proposed changes to the way the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee is governed will likely be hot topics at the annual Olympic Assembly in Colorado Springs during the next two days.

The meeting brings together leaders of Olympic and Paralympic sport governing bodies as well as athletes, sponsors and others with ties to the USOPC. After several years at the Broadmoor Resort, the 2019 Assembly returns to the Antlers Hotel in downtown Colorado Springs, not far from the USOPC headquarters.

With the theme "Journey Toward Excellence", USOPC comms chief Mark Jones says this year’s gathering is not only a celebration of the "dreams, dedication and sacrifice that characterize each athlete’s inspiring journey to represent Team USA, but equally important, it signifies our ongoing, collective responsibility to renewal and growth as we seek to build organizations as exceptional as the athletes we are honored to serve."

Chair Susanne Lyons and CEO Sarah Hirshland open the assembly Thursday morning with their report on the state of affairs for the USOPC in a town hall style briefing. Other speakers will include NGB Council Chair Max Cobb and Han Xiao, chair of the Athletes’ Advisory Council.

Lyons represents one of the big differences since the last assembly. She’s now taken over as chair of the USOPC and together with Hirshland represents new leadership for an organization that has attracted an array of critics over its handling of sexual abusein gymnastics and other Olympic sports in the U.S.

The USOPC leaders will have the chance to describe the changes being proposed. More involvement by athletes on the Board of Directors is one of those along with increased accountability and monitoring of national governing bodies.

While instigated as a result of the USA Gymnastics scandal, the changes would apply to all NGBs under the wing of the USOPC.

The USOPC Board of directors will meet both Thursday and Friday. The board is the next step for the governance proposals introduced last month. Some will require changes to the federal law governing the USOPC.

This assembly is the first to be held under the new name and acronym USOPC, changed to reflect the importance of the Paralympics to elite sport in the U.S.

The USOPC Assembly concludes with a traditional awards dinner. Jill Ellis, coach of the US women’s soccer world championship team is the keynote speaker.

Donna de Varona, a teenaged swimming phenom at the 1964 Olympics who went on to a career in sports broadcasting, is the winner of the Olympic Torch Award. The Jack Kelly Fair Play Award will be presented to Youth Olympic Games fencer May Tieu.

Written by Ed Hula

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