Probst said Blackmun has served the USOC with distinction since '10 and that the USOC concurrsGETTY IMAGES
The USOC will "not make personnel changes, including removing CEO Scott Blackmun amid calls for his resignation, until an investigation is complete into the organization’s response to the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal," according to Rachel Axon of USA TODAY. USOC Chair Larry Probst on Friday prior to the Opening Ceremony said that the committee will "cooperate with two House investigations as well as share the results of the investigation it has hired Boston-based law firm Ropes & Gray to conduct." Blackmun is "not currently in Pyeongchang after telling USOC staff in late January that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and would have surgery that would cause him to at least miss the opening ceremonies and possibly the entire Games." The U.S. House Oversight & Government Reform Committee on Thursday announced it has "launched an investigation into the USOC, USA Gymnastics, Michigan State University and other entities." Probst said that he "did not have a timetable for how long it would take for Ropes & Gray to complete its investigation of the USOC and USA Gymnastics." He added that the USOC is "examining its relationships" with NGBs. Axon notes the USOC has "threatened to de-certify USA Gymnastics as the NGB for the sport should it not meet a series of criteria." USAG last month "met the first one with the resignation of its entire board of directors" (USA TODAY, 2/9). The "ongoing fallout from the Nassar scandal" has "overshadowed the USOC’s preparations" for the Games (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 2/9).
COMING TO THE DEFENSE: Probst said Blackmun has "served the USOC with distinction" since '10 and the USOC believes he "did the right thing at the right time." Probst: "The board fully supports Scott and will wait to see results of the investigation before taking any decision or action." U.S. IOC member Anita DeFrantz said of Blackmun, "I've known him for a very long time. I thought he's done a great job for us, and think he deserves to have everything cleared before we take any action." She added, "I don't know what the investigation will show, but I'm pretty confident it will show he did a great job" (AP, 2/9). In N.Y., Jere Longman notes Blackmun, through his tenure, has been "highly regarded and viewed as a stabilizing force in an organization previously troubled by chaotic leadership." He has "served in a number of roles at the USOC, including general counsel." Blackmun’s "diligent efforts to repair a damaged relationship" between U.S. Olympic officials and the IOC resulted in L.A. "being named as the host city" for the '28 Games. However, criticism of the USOC's handling of the Nassar scandal has led to both the congressional investigation and a group of about 30 former Olympians, athletes’ reps and child-advocacy experts calling for Blackmun to "step down" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/9).
NO MORE HIDING: In L.A., David Wharton writes Probst to some degree "side-stepped assertions that his organization deserved more blame for allowing Nassar’s crimes to continue unaddressed for years." He said, "The Olympic system in the United States failed those athletes. And we are part of the Olympic system in the United States." Nassar served in an "official capacity for USA Gymnastics" as an Olympic team doctor "under the auspices of the USOC." On Friday, the USOC "acknowledged it should have reached out sooner to top gymnasts ... who said they were abused" (L.A. TIMES, 2/9). In Boston, Tara Sullivan asks, "At this point, how can we doubt that people were aware of accusations against Nassar, that those accusations were shuffled and passed on in a stunning display of 'not my responsibility' and thus allowed to continue?" USAG has "rightly been held to the fire for its failings." Sullivan: "But what of the USOC, which so far has paid no public price other than what Probst insisted in his most tone deaf moment of the afternoon?" Probst on Friday said, "We are far from unscathed. There’s been a tremendous amount of criticism about the USOC. We think that we did what we were supposed to do. We could we have done more, of course you can always do more" (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/9).
