The final four members of the Commission on the State of U.S. Olympics and Paralympics (the Commission) were finally named on Friday by Senator Maria Cantwell, with four-time Olympic swimming medalist Nancy Hogshead-Makar among them.
The Commission, which is made up of 16 members, is tasked with reviewing and assessing several aspects of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC).
Cantwell named her selections two months after the other 12 members were announced, with Hogshead-Makar being joined by Benita Fitzgergald Mosley, Dionne Koller and Jordyn Wieber.
Hogshead-Makar claimed four Olympic medals in 1984, including winning the women’s 100 freestyle and adding two more gold medals on relays. She is now a well-known civil rights and athlete-rights attorney and known to be critical of the USOPC.
Fitzgergald Mosley was the 1984 Olympic gold medalist in the women’s 100m hurdles, Koller is a professor of law at the University of Baltimore School of Law, and Wieber was a member of the Olympic champion U.S. women’s gymnastics team from the 2012 Olympic Games.
Under the Empowering Olympic, Paralympic and Amateur Athletes Act of 2020, which was passed five months ago, the Commission now only has four months left to deliver its recommendations and report. The end-of-July deadline is expected to be extended, and the Commission is still awaiting funding. It also must appoint an Executive Director and staff in the near future.
Among the things the Commission is tasked with reviewing are listed below:
- A review of the most recent reforms undertaken by the USOPC;
- A description of proposed reforms to the structure of the USOPC;
- An assessment as to whether the board of directors of the USOPC includes diverse members, including athletes;
- An assessment of U.S. athlete participation levels in the Olympic and Paralympic Games;
- A description of the status of any USOPC licensing arrangement;
- An assessment as to whether the U.S. is achieving the goals for the Olympic and Paralympic Games set by the USOPC;
- An analysis of the participation in amateur athletics of women, disabled individuals, and minorities;
- A description of ongoing efforts by the USOPC to recruit the Olympic and Paralympic Games to the U.S.;
- An evaluation of the functions of the national governing bodies (NGBs) and an analysis of the responsiveness of the NGBs to athletes with respect to the duties of the NGBs under section 220524(a)(3) of title 36, United States Code; and
- An assessment of the finances and the financial organization of the USOPC.