Mar 5, 2009 7:30 pm US/Eastern
U.S. Olympic Committee Head Resigns
Jim Scherr Was At Helm Of Organization Trying To Bring Games To Chicago In 2016
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Jim Scherr resigned as CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee March 5, 2009.
AP
Jim Scherr, the chief executive officer of the U.S. Olympic Committee, resigned abruptly Thursday.
CBS station WBBM-TV in Chicago's Dana Kozlov reports on the reaction from Chicago's Olympic planners.
The 2016 Olympic bid is down to four cities: Chicago; Rio de Janeiro; Tokyo and Madrid. It's a crucial time in the selection process. And member's of Chicago's Olympic committee hope it won't hurt them.
Scherr has been involved in Chicago's bid to host the Olympics from the very beginning. But after years of work, he will hand over the city's hosting hopes to someone else at the end of the month.
"I'm disappointed because I liked him as a person," Pat Ryan, head of Chicago's 2016 bid, said in reaction to the resignation. "Concern is not a word I would use. Things happen all the time and you go forward."
Ryan was surprised at Scherr's sudden resignation and attributes it to new U.S. Olympic Committee Chairman Larry Probst. 2016 board member Stephanie Streeter has been tapped as interim CEO. But the obvious question is, how could this change in leadership affect Chicago's chances?
"Certainly, it doesn't help," Ryan said.
But aroundtherings.com editor Ed Hula sees the move as a positive for the Windy City's chances.
"I've often felt that the Chicago bid, first of all, needed to have more women in a leading, high-profile role," he said in a telephone interview. "And Stephanie Streeter … will take that kind of position with the bid."
Ryan himself remains optimistic.
"Chicago's chances? I think they're good," he said. "The work goes on, the beat goes on. But people ware working really hard, and they're committed to do everything we can to win."
Next month, the International Olympic Committee's evaluation commission will spend a week in Chicago looking at the city and comparing sites and resources to what is in the U.S. Committee's bid book. That will be an important step in the decision process, which will be announced in early October.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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