USOC Chair Larry Probst will resign in December after more than 10 years in the role, halfway through his third elected term. The board has chosen current board member and former acting CEO Susanne Lyons to replace him starting Jan. 1. Probst, the chair and former CEO of Electronic Arts, was elected USOC Chair in October ‘08 and later won two more four-year terms. During his tenure, he helped smooth international relations by renegotiating the USOC-IOC share of media and sponsorship revenue. He was appointed to the IOC in ‘13, where he helped shape global Olympic communications and media policy on several commissions.
The USOC more recently has been criticized for its handling of sexual assault allegations against coaches in several Olympic sports, including Gymnastics, Swimming, Taekwando and Swimming. Congressional and internal investigations are ongoing, and the USOC faces numerous civil suits relating to the scandal. “We’ve been very clear about this in the past that we’ve failed our athletes,” Probst said when asked today about his personal responsibility. “And you know, I’m at the top of the food chain, and I take this very personally.”
From January ’10 through this February, Probst and former CEO Scott Blackmun served together, giving the USOC a sense of stability it has mostly lacked otherwise, and greatly improved its financial condition. They also backed L.A’s successful bid to host the ’28 Games. Probst announced his resignation less than seven months after Blackmun left, citing health reasons.
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Lyons, a former Exec VP & CMO of longtime Olympics sponsor Visa, is respected inside the Olympic movement and earned praise for her performance as acting CEO after Blackmun quit. She first joined the USOC board in October ‘10. She and new CEO Sarah Hirshland will make up the organization’s first all-woman chair/CEO duo. Lyons said she will strive to change the USOC’s culture, hoping to remind the organization that its responsibilities include developing and protecting youth athletes, not just raising money and winning medals.
She added she will steer the board toward a more active role in soliciting input from athletes and NGBs in the normal business of the Olympic sports. “This doesn’t mean the board is going to suddenly start managing things on a day-to-day operating level, which would be totally inappropriate,” Lyons said. “But it does mean that we can ensure peoples’ voices are heard and the board has all the facts and the information in front of them, so they can do the best job they can in their oversight."
Probst will lose his seat on the IOC as a result of his departure, but he could conceivably be appointed as an individual member. Lyons is not automatically granted a seat as chair. Probst said he will have dinner with IOC President Thomas Bach later this month, and then will meet with Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah at the IOC session in Argentina in October. "I hope I can continue to serve the Olympic movement going forward,” he said.
