Skip to main content

U.S. Olympic Committee CEO Scott Blackmun resigns

Replay Video

UP NEXT

UP NEXT

a man standing in front of a stage: USOC CEI Scott Blackmun speaks during a press conference at the 2016 Team USA Media Summit in Los Angeles. © Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports USOC CEI Scott Blackmun speaks during a press conference at the 2016 Team USA Media Summit in Los Angeles.

United States Olympic Committee CEO Scott Blackmun unexpectedly resigned on Wednesday.

Blackmun’s “ongoing health issues resulting from prostate cancer” were cited as the reason for his immediate resignation, the USOC said in a statement. His departure also comes as the USOC faces public backlash and three congressional inquiries into the organization's handling of the Larry Nassar sexual abuse case and similar abuse allegations with other sports under the USOC umbrella. 

“Given Scott’s current health situation, we have mutually agreed it is in the best interest of both Scott and the USOC that we identify new leadership so that we can immediately address the urgent initiatives ahead of us,” USOC chairman Larry Probst said in a statement.

“The USOC is at a critical point in its history. The important work that Scott started needs to continue and will require especially vigorous attention in light of Larry Nassar’s decades-long abuse of athletes affiliated with USA Gymnastics. We will be working with key stakeholders to help identify a permanent successor to Scott." 

USOC board member Susanne Lyons will serve as interim CEO as a search begins for a permanent replacement. Blackmun had been the CEO since 2010. 

“Scott Blackmun’s resignation is long overdue,"  Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) said in a statement to USA TODAY Sports. "The U.S. Olympic Committee must now bring on new leadership determined to deliver answers and accountability regarding how Larry Nassar was able to freely abuse young girls for decades, as well as answers to questions about abuse in other Olympic programs."

Blackmun, 60, announced in January he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and he’d miss the opening ceremony for the Pyeongchang Games, which concluded Sunday as Team USA hauled in a fewer-than-projected 23 medals. Blackmun, however, was expected to stay on the job as he underwent treatment.

He received a vote of confidence from USOC Chairman of the Board Larry Probst on Feb. 9. 

“Scott has served the USOC with distinction since 2010,” Probst said. “We believe he did the right thing at the right time. The board fully sports Scott and we will wait to see the results of the Ropes & Gray investigation before making any further decisions or taking any further action.”

Boston-based law firm Ropes & Gray to conduct investigation to examine how USOC officials handled the initial abuse allegations made against Nassar, a longtime USA Gymnastics national team doctor. More than 260 girls and women have come forward to alleged they were abused by Nassar, who was also a team doctor at Michigan State. 

Nassar was sentenced to 60 years in federal prison on child pornography charges in December. He’s also been sentenced in two Michigan courts to a combined 80-300 years in prison over the last two months. 

Three Congressional investigations have been lunched in recent weeks in the wake of Nassar’s alleged abuse that spanned nearly two decades.

The USOC threatened in January to de-certify USA Gymnastics as the national governing body for the sport should, including the resignations of each member of the organization's board. All 21 members tendered their resignations. 

USA Swimming fired two high-ranking officials last week over its handling of an abuse investigation, a move that came days after The Orange County Register reported hundreds of swimmers may have been abused or harassed by coaches. USA Taekwondo and U.S. Speedskating also were subject to complaints that they didn't do enough to protect athletes. 

The USOC also announced several reforms when it announced Blackmun's resignation, including:  

  • Counseling and other resources for Olympic and Paralympic athletes recovering from abuse. 
  • An advisory board comprised of abuse survivors, psychologists and advocates to examine and suggest changes to “cultural issues and conflicts of interest that may exist in sports.” The USOC will also review the existing structure that exists between the USOC and the sports it oversees. 
  • Doubling the funding of U.S. Center for SafeSport, the independent organization tasked at ensuring Olympic sports in the U.S. are free from abuse. President Trump signed the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act into law on Feb. 14 that requires organizations under the USOC to report instances of abuse to to SafeSport. The USOC perviously provided $1 million per year to SafeSport. 

“While we are eager to review the findings of the independent investigation, the USOC is taking important actions now based on what we already know,” Lyons, the USOC's interim CEO, said in a statement. “We are evaluating the USOC’s role and oversight of all the National Governing Bodies, considering potential changes to the Olympic structure and aggressively exploring new ways to enhance athlete safety and help prevent and respond to abuse.”

Popular posts from this blog

You can pay at a restaurant by smiling at a camera

© Provided by Engadget As easy as it is to make purchases in the era of tap-to-pay services , it's about to get easier still. Alipay (which handles purchases for Chinese shopping giant Alibaba) has launched what it says is the first payment system that uses facial recognition to complete the sale. If you visit one of KFC's KPRO restaurants in Hangzhou, China, you can pay for your panini or salad by smiling at a camera-equipped kiosk -- you need to verify the purchase on your phone, but you don't have to punch in digits or bring your phone up to an NFC reader. The system (Smile to Pay) is purportedly resistant to spoofing with photos and other tricks. It relies on both depth-sensing cameras and a "likeness detection algorithm" to make sure it's really you. Reportedly, the technology is good enough that it can accurately identify people even when they're disguising themselves through makeup or wigs. You shouldn't have to worry about someone buying ...

Cimatu warns miners: Don’t befoul watersheds, forests, aquatic resources

© Provided by Mediamerge Corporation Newly-appointed Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Roy Cimatu poses for a photo before being sworn into office by President Rodrigo Duterte ahead of the 15th Cabinet meeting in Malacañang on Monday, May 7, 2017. Robinson Niñal/PPD Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu on Tuesday warned mining firms to observe responsible mining and avoid destructive practices or face sanctions His pronouncement came in response to President Rodrigo Duterte's second State of the Nation Address, in which the chief executive emphasized mining's impact on the environment. "I know for a fact that in a number of cases, weak and irresponsible mining practices result [in] environmental destruction—contaminating farmlands and poisoning our rivers and seas," Cimatu said in a statement. "Miners better refrain from despoiling our watersheds, forests and aquatic resources," he added. Cimatu said the Department of Environment and Natural Res...

Tesla cloud account hacked to mine cryptocurrency

© Provided by The Hill An unidentified outside hacker infiltrated Tesla's Amazon cloud account and used its systems to quietly mine for cryptocurrencies, a cybersecurity firm announced Tuesday. The hack also potentially exposed the electric car company's data. Researchers for RedLock found that Tesla's credentials on an IT administrative console were not password protected. They made the discovery while trying to track down which organizations had left their Amazon Web Services (AWS) credentials openly exposed on the internet last month. The hackers quietly hijacked the console and began running scripts to generate virtual currency like bitcoin, the latest in a series of "cryptojacking" attacks. The researchers also found the hackers used "sophisticated evasion measures" to go undetected. A spokesperson for Tesla said the company learned about the breach in a company-sanctioned bug bounty program that pays outside hackers to discover vulnerabilitie...