Vote Scrambles USOC Leadership

The United States Olympic Committee, in an unexpected jolt that may hold profound implications for its future direction as well as planning for the upcoming Salt Lake Winter Olympics, opted Sunday not to make its interim chief executive officer the permanent boss but instead to search for a top-notch executive with “in-depth” Olympic know-how.

Interim CEO Scott Blackmun had been proclaimed the “best man for the job” before Sunday’s meeting of the USOC’s policymaking Executive Committee. He was declared the leading candidate afterward.

Nonetheless, in a move that highlights again the political infighting that has long riven the USOC, the board voted, 15-2, to undertake a nationwide search--even as it authorized an offer to Blackmun of a contract to stay on as interim CEO through April, 2002. The Salt Lake Games begin Feb. 8, 2002.

It remains unclear whether Blackmun, a 43-year-old lawyer who would be a catch for a high-powered law firm or big business, is interested in such a deal--particularly under such circumstances.

If he leaves, a number of senior USOC staff have indicated they might also depart--and the start of the Salt Lake Games, which some insiders have said could be the last Olympics in the United States for many years, is now just 13 months away.

Last month, Blackmun indicated he was not interested in remaining an interim CEO through the Salt Lake Games.

He said Sunday after the vote, “Nobody likes uncertainty,” adding, “Clearly I’d like resolution sooner rather than later. But what’s most important is that we get the right resolution. So I’m not saying that I will definitely stay through Salt Lake City. Nor am I saying that I won’t be staying.”

Caroline Shaw, a spokeswoman for the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, downplayed the import of a search, saying it would not have a “dramatic impact” on the Games. SLOC and the USOC work together in any number of areas, particularly fund-raising. But, she said, “We’re gearing up for the operational phase.”

The action Sunday marks the latest twist in what has been--even by USOC standards--a remarkably tumultuous period, a stretch that leaves its near- and long-term stability stamped with uncertainty.

In 1999, a USOC-commissioned study concluded it had outgrown its volunteer-oriented leadership and needed to be more corporate-like in its operations and culture. It is now a $110-million-per-year operation.

Last February, the USOC hired corporate turnaround artist Norman P. Blake Jr. to implement that strategy. He was given unequivocal day-to-day authority.

Blake lasted until late October. He resigned in the face of mounting opposition to his action plan and blunt speech. He cut USOC staff and implemented a controversial “money-for-medals” plan largely aimed at rewarding those sports federations that were successful at the Games while cutting funding to those that performed poorly--just like a business assessing the performance of its units.

Opponents, however, called Blake abrasive. They said he didn’t understand that the USOC is made up of dozens of constituencies and that they had to be consulted or committees needed to be formed before making a decision; he conceded he was plain-spoken but said he’d been hired to change just such a style of decision-making.

Blackmun was Blake’s No. 2. He had been the USOC’s general counsel since 1999; for eight years before that, the USOC had been hiring him on legal matters. He has long had broad support among USOC staff for his consensus-building abilities and his knowledge of the institution and the Olympic movement.

Blackmun is the USOC’s 10th CEO (or executive director, as the job used to be called) since 1978, when Congress chartered the USOC. On average, the USOC has endured turnover at the top essentially every two years for the past two decades.

Since 1996, the USOC has commissioned three major “mission” initiatives--seeking to define precisely what it is supposed to be doing. Send athletes to the Games? To dominate? Or merely compete? Or is the mission more--to take part at the Games while inspiring schoolkids? Or attracting corporate investment?

Last month, the USOC elected several new members of the volunteer-oriented Executive Committee. Sandra Baldwin, an Arizona real estate executive with extensive USOC experience, was elected chair, the top volunteer position.

As one of her first acts, Baldwin appointed a committee to determine whether the USOC was obligated to do a search for a CEO.

At the same time, Baldwin pressed behind the scenes for the Executive Committee to hire Blackmun permanently. She said he had her full support.

The committee, chaired by Cedric Dempsey, president of the NCAA, reported at the meeting Sunday that the USOC was not legally obliged to run a search.

But, Baldwin said, there emerged a consensus, reflected in the 15-2 vote, that because of the USOC’s “stature and visibility” there exists a “moral consideration” that mandates a search.

No time frame was immediately set for the search.

The ballot was held behind closed doors and all members of the Executive Committee referred questions afterward to Baldwin.

Sanguine, she said the vote merely reflected the new board’s interest in pursuing the right “process,” adding, “They want to make sure we get it right.” Asked if it reflected on her--because she had pushed hard for Blackmun to be hired now--she asserted that she enjoys significant board support.

“Personally, I’m looking forward to the next 13 months and having America’s best foot forward in Salt Lake,” she said. “And I’m going to stay focused on that.”