Julie Foudy loses IOC election

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BEIJING -- It’s a little like reading tea leaves, or looking at old Kremlin photos to see who was in and out of favor in the Soviet government, but there could be some significance to the voting by athletes for their representatives to the International Olympic Committee.

Julie Foudy, the former soccer player, was the U.S. nominee for the Athletes’ Commission and would have been an outstanding member. Even on a team with stars such as Mia Hamm and Brandi Chastain, Foudy was one of the leaders. Smart, unselfish, not afraid to speak her mind. (The players lovingly called her Loudy Foudy.)

But she finished seventh in the voting. Only four positions were open.

I don’t think that is a reflection upon her so much as it was that the United States isn’t all that respected in the Olympic movement, even among the athletes. We’re considered too successful, too rich and, frankly, too arrogant.

I don’t believe it. Most U.S. athletes, like most of the athletes from everywhere else, are committed Olympians who buy into the movement’s ideals and compete with intensity and integrity.

Even the NBA players have been on their best behavior.

But our global role as a superpower carries over into sports. We were a lot more liked when there was a Soviet bloc.

It shouldn’t escape anyone’s attention that the IOC reprimanded the United States before this election, implying that the U.S. Olympic Committee was trying to buy votes. Not true. The USOC promised every athlete a $50 voucher to the athletes’ village gift shop upon checkout. If they voted, the USOC told them they could have their vouchers early.

The IOC overreacted. Maybe I’m making too much of it. But I don’t believe that bodes well for Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

-- Randy Harvey