Jim Easton to Run for IOC VP

Jim Easton, an International Olympic Committee member since 1994 and head of the International Archery Federation since 1989, said Wednesday that he will seek election as an IOC vice president.

If elected at a meeting this February in Salt Lake City held in conjunction with the 2002 Winter Olympics, Easton, 66, chairman of a sporting goods company headquartered in Van Nuys, would become one of four vice presidents on the IOC’s ruling Executive Board.

The IOC heads into the Salt Lake Games without an American representative on the Executive Board--even though the U.S. Olympic Committee has traditionally been the most important of the 199 national Olympic committees worldwide.

Anita DeFrantz of Los Angeles, the senior IOC member in the U.S., served as IOC vice president from 1997 until this past July, when she ran unsuccessfully for the IOC presidency, won by Jacques Rogge of Belgium.

IOC rules bar her from running again for an Executive Board seat until 2005.

Easton, whose involvement with the Olympic movement dates to 1972, has consistently said in interviews with The Times over the past several months that he does not believe the U.S. is entitled to an Executive Board seat. In a letter he sent earlier this month to the more than 120 members of the IOC, he “humbly” asks for their support and says he would “appreciate your comments and advice.”