USOC Chair Takes Final Lap Abroad

(ATR) After ten years circling the globe on behalf of the U.S. Olympic Committee, chairman Larry Probst will make his final travels this month.

Probst announced in September that he would be stepping down as chair at the end of the year, two years earlier than expected. An IOC member since 2013, Probst will also relinquish that post as it is linked to his NOC leadership.

Last week, Probst chaired his final meeting of the ANOC Marketing and New Sources of Finance Commission. For the last time he sat on the dais of the ANOG General Assembly in Tokyo as a member of the Executive Committee.

"At the end of the meeting, Gunilla (Lindberg, ANOC Secretary General) reminded everybody this is my last meeting," Probst told Around the Rings. "She said, ‘Congratulations and thanks for your leadership,’ and everybody said, ‘Hey, nice job. See you later.’"

Probst chuckled.

Why go now? "Because I’m 68 years old and I’m getting old," said Probst, who was elected USOC chair in 2008 and re-elected in 2012 and 2016.

"The job requires extensive travel. People that don’t travel think travel’s fun. Travel is not fun. Travel’s challenging. I think it’s been a great 10 years. I’ve met a lot of great people and gone to places I never would have gone before, worked on some interesting problems and I think we accomplished some pretty significant things in the last 10 years."

Probst had no Olympic experience when he took over the USOC chairmanship from Peter Ueberroth, the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics chief. Then chairman of gaming company Electronic Arts, Probst learned quickly and dedicated himself to repairing the relationship between the USOC and the IOC after the failure of the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid. The city was the first eliminated during IOC voting at the 2009 session.

"I think that 10 years ago our relationship with the IOC was not great," Probst said. "I think it’s great now."The fact we were able to get the Games back to the United States, that was pretty significant."

Last year, with the naming of Los Angeles as the 2028 Olympic host city, Probst came full circle in the bidding wars.

The USOC helped its cause with much more international engagement as well as adjustments to the revenue sharing agreement which, Probst said, "worked well for both the IOC and the USOC and we really solidified ourselves financially for a long, long time. I think that we built some friendships and some relationships that are going to be beneficent to the USOC for a long time."

He has been accompanied in his international travels duringthe past few months by his successor, Susanne Lyons and new USOC CEO Sarah Hirshland.

In addition to ANOC in Tokyo last week, Hirshland and Lyons went to Buenos Aires for the Youth Olympic Games.

"Susanne and Sarah are going to be a fantastic team leading the organization forward and I couldn’t be happier," Probst said.

"We’re doing everything we can to give them an orientation as quickly as possible and connect them with all the important people in the Olympic Movement.

"It’s been very systematic and very organized."

Lyons will accompany Probst to Lausanne this week for the 2018 edition of the Olympic Summit. The meeting is an annual brainstorming session that includes a mix of leadership from the IOC, federations and important NOCs.

Probst will chair his final USOC board meeting in San Francisco in 10 days. The board could recommend a candidate for the 2030 Winter Games. Denver and Salt Lake City are the choices.

He said he could stay involved in the Olympic Movement depending on the situation.

Next year one of the events he helped land will take place in the United States. The Inaugural ANOC Beach Games will be held in San Diego in October.

Probst said that as chair of the ANOC Marketing and New Sources of Finance Commission, "The primary strategy for new revenue is the Beach Games in 2019. I think the San Diego organizing committee is making some meaningful progress. I think the Beach Games are going to be good."

Reported in Tokyo by Karen Rosen.