Anita DeFrantz, the only American on the International Olympic Committee’s executive board, has asked that her term, which officially ended last month, be extended through the 2002 Winter Games.
DeFrantz would need the permission of new IOC President Jacques Rogge. Rogge was in Edmonton, Alberta to convene his first meeting of the executive board and would not comment on DeFrantz’s request. He said he would have to talk to her in person before making a decision and expects to see DeFrantz next week when he visits the USOC headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo.
DeFrantz is not seeking a vote on the executive board, just permission to attend its meetings. The United States no longer has a representative on the 15-member panel that makes most of the key decisions on behalf of the IOC.
USOC President Sandy Baldwin said, “I think it’s very important that the USOC have representation at the executive board level. I believe we have to very carefully protect our monetary interests and it would be my intention to do so”.
DeFrantz said it’s important for the United States to have continued representation on the board since the Salt Lake Games begin in just six months.
But SLOC President Mitt Romney is more interested in working well with Rogge than in having a U.S. representative sitting on the executive board, said organizing committee spokeswoman Caroline Shaw. “Mitt’s relationship has been with the president, and it’s been CEO to CEO. He had a good relationship with Samaranch and he expects to have the same with Dr. Rogge. That’s been the most productive for the organizing committee.”
Meanwhile, Canadian IOC member Dick Pound will remain head of the IOC’s drug agency through the end of the Salt Lake City Olympics. Rogge announced the move during Friday’s meeting between the IOC executive board and the IAAF Council, which preceded the opening of the World Track and Field Championships in Edmonton.
Pound had submitted his resignation at the IOC’s marketing head and head of World Anti-Doping Agency after losing his presidential bid to Rogge July 16. Rogge has since been trying to convince him to change his mind.
IAAF spokesman Giorgio Reineri said there was no word whether Pound had also changed his mind to stay on as IOC marketing chief.
