USOC Officers Election Draws Criticism : Lack of Women Selected Becomes an Issue as 6 Men Win Seats

The U.S. Olympic Committee’s House of Delegates Saturday elected six men to fill officer positions for the next four years, drawing criticism from women that the USOC is reverting to the days when it was considered an exclusive men’s club.

Among the most vocal was Willye White, a five-time Olympian in track and field from Chicago, who finished a close fourth in a four-candidate election for three vice presidential positions.

“This was not about winning and losing,” she said. “This was about making a statement. Women are part of the Olympic movement, and you cannot continue to ignore us.”

The USOC did not release vote totals, but sources close to the situation said that almost as many of the 374 delegates voted for White as for New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. Other vice presidents elected were Los Angeles attorney Michael Lenard and Colorado Springs businessman William Tutt.

President Robert Helmick of Des Moines, Iowa, treasurer LeRoy Walker of Durham, N.C., and secretary Charles Foster of Duxbury, Mass., ran unopposed.

The elected candidates were slated in November by a nominating committee, which included one woman among its 10 members. White was the only challenger to the slate.

The nominating committee, chaired by Cincinnati attorney Ross Wales, asked Anita DeFrantz, president of the Amateur Athletic Foundation in Los Angeles and an International Olympic Committee member, if she would consider becoming an officer. She declined.

Another woman, Dr. Evie Dennis of Denver, served as a vice-president for the last four years, but the nominating committee did not slate her this time. Helmick offered her a position as special assistant to the president.

“You don’t have any voting power, so I’ll have to think about it,” she said. “It depends on what it means, on whether I’ll have any influence on what goes on in this organization.”

Pointing out that there are only 16 women among 89 executive board members, Helmick appointed an ad hoc committee, chaired by two women, to identify potential leaders among women in Olympic sports. He also said that there will be four women among the 12-member administrative committee announced today.

Olympic Notes

Sprinter Florence Griffith Joyner of Los Angeles, who won three gold medals and a silver at the Summer Olympics, and swimmer Matt Biondi of Moraga, Calif., who won five golds, a silver and a bronze, were honored Saturday night as the USOC’s SportsWoman and SportsMan of the Year.