Saturday, May 25, 2002
Baldwin resigns as USOC president
By JOHN MARSHALL
AP Sports Writer
DENVER — U.S. Olympic Committee president Sandra Baldwin resigned Friday, a day after she admitted lying about her academic credentials.
The announcement was made following a conference call between Baldwin and USOC Executive Committee members. Baldwin told USOC chief executive Lloyd Ward her resignation was effective immediately.
“I want the best for the Olympic movement and, as one who believes in its ideals, I accept full responsibility for the mistakes I have made,” Baldwin said in a statement. “The USOC, our athletes and our volunteers will always have a special place in my heart.”
After abruptly leaving an international Olympic meeting in Malaysia on Wednesday, Baldwin admitted that academic information in her official biography was inaccurate.
She had claimed that she graduated from the University Colorado in 1962 and earned a doctorate from Arizona State in 1967. Baldwin said Thursday that she actually graduated from Arizona State in 1962 after leaving Colorado three years earlier and never completed her dissertation.
“This is the most dignified thing to do,” International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said. “It's a great loss for the USOC and the Olympic movement.”
Rogge said Baldwin would automatically lose her seat with the IOC, which she gained in February. It's also likely that she will have to relinquish her position as vice president of the Association of National Olympic Committees, which was meeting in Malaysia.
The USOC said it will begin looking for a replacement immediately.
American IOC member Anita DeFrantz said it is unclear who would replace Baldwin.
The USOC has three vice presidents — Herman Frazier, Bill Stapleton and Paul George — but there is no rank of succession. DeFrantz said the executive committee would have to make a decision on who will take over and for how long, and when the next election will be.
“I think it's very disappointing for us as well as her,” IOC vice president Kevan Gosper said before Baldwin's announcement. “We see her as a good president, an active president, a person we like working with.”
Baldwin's resignation is the latest in a string of USOC members relinquishing their posts under pressure.
In 1991, president Robert Helmick resigned after being accused of using the position for personal gain. He was the first IOC member to resign under pressure.
Alfredo La Mont, the USOC's senior director of international relations and protocol, stepped down in 1999 after revealing an undisclosed business relationship with a former member of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee.
The USOC most recently went through a lengthy search to replace CEO Norm Blake, who resigned under pressure in October 2000. Ward replaced Blake in October.
“The organization is made up of people and people have faults,” DeFrantz said. “In my opinion, the question is whether the flaws of human nature disturb the possibility of success for the organization. We're all human.”
Baldwin rushed home from Malaysia after learning a reporter for Colorado's alumni association was going to publish the discrepancies in her biography.
The reporter interviewed Baldwin a few weeks ago and called her in China last week after learning Baldwin did not graduate from Colorado or have a doctorate.
“This an emotional time for Sandy and for the Olympic family,” Ward said in a statement. “She did what she considered best for the USOC and the Olympic movement. She took full responsibility for her actions and the mistakes in her biographical sketch.”
Baldwin's admission is the latest in a string of inaccurate biographies among sports figures.
The most widely publicized case came in December, when George O'Leary lost the football coaching job at Notre Dame's after he lied about academic and athletic accomplishments.
Former Colorado State women's basketball coach Tom Collen resigned from Vanderbilt on May 2 after inaccuracies were found on his resume.
Baldwin, 62, became the USOC's first woman president and chairman of the board when she was elected to replace Bill Hybl in December 2000. She was a vice president for the USOC from 1996-00 after serving as treasurer for four years. Baldwin has served on the USOC's board of directors since 1985.
“Throughout her career, Sandy consistently did the hardest jobs in the United States Olympic Committee and often at times when no one else would do them,” Hybl said.
Baldwin declined comment.
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Baldwin resigns as USOC president
