U.S. Olympic Committee Chief Executive Scott Blackmun is resigning for health reasons, the organization said Wednesday, following months of sustained criticism in the wake of the sex abuse scandal involving former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar.
In a statement, the USOC cited Blackmun’s “ongoing health issues” related to prostate cancer, for which he has been receiving treatment. The group also announced new reforms aimed at protecting its athletes from abuse.
The USOC, which announced the change less than a week after the Winter Olympics ended in South Korea, had resisted calls to fire Blackmun over the Nassar case.
“Given Scott’s current health situation, we have mutually agreed it is in the best interest of both Scott and the USOC that we identify new leadership so that we can immediately address the urgent initiatives ahead of us,” USOC Chairman Larry Probst said in a statement.
“The important work that Scott started needs to continue and will require especially vigorous attention in light of Larry Nassar’s decades-long abuse of athletes affiliated with USA Gymnastics,” Probst added.
200 accusers
Nassar pleaded guilty of molesting female athletes under the guise of medical treatment and was sentenced to life in prison. Around 200 women, including several Olympic gold medalists, have accused Nassar of abuse.
The scandal prompted the entire board of directors at USA Gymnastics, the sport’s governing body in the United States, to resign, along with the president and athletic director at Michigan State University, where Nassar also worked.
A series of criminal and civil investigations were launched into the USOC, USA Gymnastics and Michigan State after numerous accusers said their complaints about Nassar’s treatments were ignored for years.
USOC board member Susanne Lyons, who in January was chosen to lead a working group to address problems that the Nassar case had exposed, will serve as acting CEO while the organization searches for a permanent replacement.
The USOC will increase funding for support and counseling for victims as well as investigations into abuse allegations, among other reforms, according to the statement.
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