New USOPC Chair: Gene Sykes Los Angeles 2028 bid leader takes over in January

Gene Sykes was chosen Friday by the 16 members of the USOPC Board of Directors in a virtual meeting. He was one of two candidates who made presentations to the board. The other was Dexter Paine, a board member and influential figure with ski federation FIS. The vote by the board was secretly cast.

Sykes was chief executive officer of the Los Angeles Olympic bid that began for 2024 and ended up in 2028 when the IOC simultaneously awarded 2024 to Paris and 2028 to Los Angeles. Sykes took part in the negotiations which led the IOC to make that unprecedented decision in 2017.

Sykes has the backing of Casey Wasserman, chair of LA28. Both worked closely to bring the third Olympics to Southern California. Planning for those Games will be a key mission for the USOPC and Sykes in the next six years. His familiarity with the project should be a plus.

“I am thrilled to accept this role and thankful for the confidence placed in me by the board and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic community,” said Sykes in a statement from the USOPC.

“I am inspired by the opportunity in front of me and am grateful to Susanne for leaving the organization so well positioned to achieve holistic success – on and off the field of play – as Team USA marches toward Paris 2024, Milan-Cortina 2026 and Los Angeles 2028,” Sykes says.

Sykes came to the LA bid in 2015 after a long career at Goldman Sachs, where he was a managing partner. He has rejoined the firm as co-chairman of Global Mergers and Acquisitions and co-chairman of the Global Technology, Media and Telecom Group at Goldman Sachs & Co.

His business acumen will come into play as the leader of the world’s largest privately financed National Olympic Committee. Despite the size of the U.S. market, the stunting of revenue and TV audiences that drive that income will be one of the long term issues facing Sykes and colleagues. The 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles are clearly an opportunity to drive numbers upward in the U.S.

Sykes will also oversee a bid from Salt Lake City to host upcoming Winter Olympics in 2030 or 2034. An IOC decision is expected to be made in the first weeks of Sykes’ chairmanship in early 2023. Another joint awarding could be in the works with Salt Lake City and Sapporo, right up the wheelhouse of Sykes.

Sykes is the fourth person to hold the title of chair since it was instituted in a 2004 corporate reorganization that reduced the size of the USOC (as it was known at the time) board from 130+ members to 16. He takes office January 1, 2023, succeeding Susanne Lyons, who reaches an eight-year term limit.

Although he won’t take over for six months, Sykes will jump into the fray within days. He will head to Eugene, Oregon next week for the open of the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon. The USOPC is planning a hospitality event in Eugene to welcome World Athletics dignitaries.

Sykes is expected to cross paths with IOC President Thomas Bach as well. Bach will be in Eugene and then he’ll also spend a day in Los Angeles to review plans for LA 28. The USOPC chairman designate, home town LA, is likely to be there too.