Doug Arnot is expected to join the staff of London 2012. (ATR/Panasonic:Lumix)(ATR) London 2012 is expected to announce that a prominent U.S. expert on Olympic Games operations will join the staff at Canary Wharf.
Doug Arnot, 58, would hold a senior position similar to postings he has held in the past. An announcement could come on Monday, Around the Rings has learned.
Arnot is believed to be in London to begin work this week, reporting to chief operating officer Paul Deighton.
He would relocate from Chicago, where Arnot was the senior vice president for venues and operations with the Chicago bid for the 2016 Olympics.
His experience with major sports events dates to the 1990s when he was a vice president of World Cup USA 1994. He followed that with a posting as managing director for venues at the Atlanta Olympics.
After Atlanta, Arnot consulted with Sydney 2000 in venue operations under chief operating officer Jim Sloman, who is now a consultant to the London Olympic Delivery Authority.
“Doug has terrific Olympic experience. His venue experience from the Atlanta Games proved very valuable in helping to prepare me and my team ahead of the Sydney Games. He will add great value to the London 2012 team,” says Sloman.
After Sydney, Arnot moved on to Salt Lake City, where he was event management director for the 2002 Winter Games.
While Arnot helped deliver a smooth running Games, his tenure was marked with controversy over a 2000 case of road rage in downtown Salt Lake City. While driving through an intersection, Arnot got angry at a pedestrian and an altercation ensued.
Three months later, in June 2000, Arnot pleaded guilty to the assault. He served 10 days in jail, paid a $2,500 fine, served 100 hours of community service, a year of probation and took part in mandated anger-management sessions. News reports from the day Arnot was sentenced quote him admitting that he "responded very inappropriately", accepting the punishment handed down by the judge.
“Like the judge said, I think there are those of us in the community that have to be held to a higher standard. Fortunately or unfortunately, I have been held to a higher standard. And I accept that," he is quoted.
A civil suit by the victim seeking claims for damages was settled privately in 2001.
While Arnot was placed on probation in his job at the Salt Lake City Olympics, he was not suspended from his work and carried on to the successful completion of the Games in 2002. His misdemeanor conviction was expunged from official records in 2006.
Post-Salt Lake City Arnot headed USA Rugby and served as a consultant to Turin 2006 and the New York bid for the 2012 Olympics before joining the staff of the Chicago bid.
George Hirthler, senior strategic advisor for Chicago 2016 tells Around the Rings that London will have made a good choice if Arnot is hired.
"He is a true master of Games operations, a brilliant event organizer--look what he did in staging the 2007 AIBA Championships in three months--and a very innovative thinker in sport development for young people. He had more impact on Chicago's actual plan for the Games than anyone--and it was a brilliant plan,” says Hirthler.
Written by Ed Hula
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