Interim CEO to Remain

Scott Blackmun, the interim CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee, has agreed to stay in the post while the USOC conducts a nationwide search.

Blackmun, 43, whom USOC chair Sandy Baldwin has said is the leading candidate as the search gets underway, said Wednesday he agreed to stay on “assuming the search moves forward at a reasonable pace.” He added, “My hope is that the search is completed at the beginning of summer.”

At a meeting Jan. 14 in New York, the USOC’s ruling Executive Committee voted, 15-2, to launch the search. It had been unclear in the aftermath whether Blackmun would agree to stay as interim CEO. Complete details of the search process remain uncertain.

The process, however, threatens to prolong the uncertainty that has dogged the USOC over the last several months--a critical period because the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics begin next Feb. 8. Former CEO Norm Blake stepped down in October. Blackmun has been the interim CEO since. An attorney, he was Blake’s No. 2 and, before that, the USOC’s general counsel.