USOC Might End Search for CEO

In an unexpected turnaround, the U.S. Olympic Committee is due today to reconsider whether it ought to give interim CEO Scott Blackmun the job permanently and forgo the nationwide search it opted last month to undertake.

Blackmun, 43, a former USOC general counsel, has held the interim tag since October, when CEO Norm Blake stepped down.

At a meeting last month in New York that highlighted the USOC’s long-running penchant for political infighting, the policy-making Executive Committee voted, 15-2, to launch a search. USOC chair Sandra Baldwin said immediately afterward, however, that Blackmun was the leading candidate.

The issue has left the USOC dogged by uncertainty during the lead-up to the Salt Lake Winter Olympics, which begin Feb. 8.

Since the New York meeting, several sources said Thursday, a faction of the board has been driving to install Blackmun as CEO through the Salt Lake Games--with the proviso that his performance would thereupon be reviewed.

Blackmun, reached late Thursday night by telephone, declined to comment.

Meantime, the Executive Committee is also due today to vote on a four-year financial plan. If approved, the plan would be submitted to the USOC’s board of directors, which must formally approve budgets and is due to meet in April in San Jose.