(ATR) Financial records of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committees for 2018 show CEO Scott Blackmun was handed a $2.4 million severance when he resigned early that year.
Blackmun cited health issues for his resignation, but he was also under fire from victims of the USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal. Olympians and hundreds of other athletes were abused by the former team doctor now serving prison terms that amount to a life sentence.
Blackmun remains a target of critics who say he failed to act in a timely and effective manner when he first learned of the suspicions around Dr. Larry Nassar four years ago. Blackmun has also been subject to speculation that his written testimony to the U.S. Senate in 2018 may contain perjured testimony regarding his knowledge of the trouble in gymnastics and how he responded.
"In 2018 the USOPC board of directors approved a separation agreement including severance for former CEO Scott Blackmun. At that time, based on the requirement for new leadership to guide the organization forward, as well as Blackmun’s serious health challenges, the board approved a separation agreement, as provided for in his contract," said USOPC chair Susanne Lyons in a statement.
"I am utterly appalled," is the reaction from Nancy Hogshead-Makar, the Olympic gold medalist and attorney.
"The USOPC board failed to protect the interests of our country’s athletes when it handed Scott Blackmun $2.4 million dollars prior to the completion of any investigation," she tells Around the Rings in a statement.
She says Blackmun should have been dismissed and is pushing for resignationof the entire USOPC Board of Directors.
"We showed how Blackmun strategically left athletes powerless and mute, setting them up for physical, emotional, sexual and financial abuse. Nassar was only unique in the scale of his abuse; many athletes had pleaded (wuith) Blackmun for help, but the Blackmun / USOPC official policy was that Athlete’s pleas were to be ignored. He assured that if athletes were not obedient and compliant, they could not count on a spot on Team USA. It was — and is — an organization the funds its staff, not its athletes.
"The USOPC Board has now amply demonstrated its negligence in exercising its fiduciary duty over our Olympic and Paralympic movement. Given what was known at the time, and certainly what is known now, this severance is more evidence that the USOPC Board must resign," Hogshead-Makar tells Around the Rings.
Sarah Hirshland, who took over as CEO in August 2018, says in a statement that changes she has made at the USOPC are making a difference.
"The USOPC is currently providing more resources to athletes, NGBs and sport programming than at any point in our organization’s history. We’ve also instituted critical reforms that have helped to begin to regain the support of the public, our donors and partners, and that is reflected in the strength of our financial statements," she says.
According to its 2018 tax filing, USOPC revenue that year was $322 million against expenses of $275 million.
The USOPC is named as a plaintiff along with USA Gymnastics in lawsuits filed by victims of the former team doctor. Hirshland has said the USOPC will not be bankrupted by any settlements. USA Gymnastics has set aside $70 million as a contingency earmarked for the lawsuits.
Reported by Ed Hula.
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