Scott Blackum
/ AP Photo/ Ed Andrieski
The U.S. Olympic Committee has appointed Scott Blackmun its new chief executive officer.
Blackmun's four-year deal includes a base salary this year of $450,000. The Colorado Springs attorney is returning to the USOC, where he worked as general counsel, then senior managing director and later as interim CEO from 1998 through 2001.
Blackmun said he intends to restore respectability to the organization that has had its share of troubles. Many saw Chicago's first-round exit in the bidding for the 2016 Summer Games as an international rebuke of the USOC.
Blackmun said he intends to become more engaged with the worldwide Olympic community.
"Internationally, it's just a lot of blocking and tackling," Blackmun said. "At the end of the day, relationships are a function of time and commitment and we need to start spending that time and making that commitment and becoming engaged in the movement. We are part of the worldwide Olympic movement. The IOC is the leader of that movement and we intend to become a much more regular guest over there."
The IOC welcomed Blackmun's hiring.
"We are clearly pleased at the appointment of a new chief executive officer at the United States Olympic Committee. Our relationship with USOC is a key one for the future of the Games, and having an experienced operator in the post is clearly to be welcomed," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said.
"Scott Blackmun is a man with tremendous experience both of USOC and of the wider Olympic Family. He understands the challenges and particularly the opportunities that the post brings and we look forward to a close and constructive working relationship."
Chairman Larry Probst said Blackmun "has the unanimous support of the USOC board as well as our independent search committee," which spent the last three months looking for a replacement for Stephanie Streeter.
The 52-year-old Blackmun will officially take over on Jan. 26 after a Hawaii vacation and will be in place for the start of the Vancouver Olympics on Feb. 12.
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