COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Where there once was unmistakable acrimony, there's now lots of harmony between the U.S. Olympic Committee and the Olympic national governing bodies it serves, the result of improved communication by the USOC and a louder voice at the table for the NGBs.
Relationships that were broken have been repaired in the 18 months that Scott Blackmun has worked as chief executive officer of the Colorado Springs-based USOC, and with no reason to complain given the financial boost they received from the USOC, the NGBs are focusing their efforts on assembling top-notch athletes for the 2012 London Games.
Blackmun's presence in the USOC's highest-paid post, and his commitment to having an open dialogue with leaders of 46 NGBs, have calmed the rocky waters that existed when former USOC board member Stephanie Streeter was CEO of the USOC for 10 months in 2009 after Jim Scherr's resignation. Streeter was appointed CEO of an Ohio-based glass maker Monday, and Scherr leads a Springs-based sports marketing firm that he founded.
NGB heads have repeatedly maintained that Blackmun's door always is open, and USA Wrestling executive director Rich Bender, chairman of the NGB council, held a question-and-answer session with the USOC board during the board's quarterly gathering Tuesday in Stanford, Calif. Plus, the NGBs are represented on the retooled board for the first time, with USA Hockey executive director Dave Ogrean holding a new seat since December.
The USOC has "made efforts to try to provide tools and resources that national governing bodies can use to run their businesses better," Bender said, most notably an additional $8 million in allocations last year for NGBs, an increase from $51.1 million to $59.1 million, according to USOC income tax returns that were published in May. "Everyone is kind of pulling on the same end of the rope," Bender added, "and I think that's really positive."
USOC director of NGB organizational development Rick Adams credited Blackmun for recognizing that "we are in a culture of service. And the NGBs are a critical part of that culture, and we need to serve them as best we can in all regards. ... That means doing all things big or small that we can to work collaboratively with the NGBs."
Cohesiveness is essential heading into London, where the Americans will attempt to win the Summer Games total-medal count for the fifth straight time, insisted USOC chairman Larry Probst, who said it's "absolutely the case" that USOC-NGB relations have become stronger under Blackmun than they were under Streeter. "It seems the communication is frequent and productive, and the NGB community is much happier these days than they might have been 18 or 24 months ago," he said. "I think there has been a big change."
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