Larry Probst has been re-elected as the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) chairman for a second four-year term, it was announced tonight.
Probst was re-elected by acclimation at the USOC Board meeting today which took place at the Electronic Arts headquarters in Redwood City, California.
The American, who is also the chairman of gaming company giant Electronic Arts (EA), was first elected to the USOC role in 2008 when he replaced Peter Ueberroth.
"It's an honour to continue serving the US Olympic and Paralympic Movements and I look forward to making continued progress in the years to come," said Probst.
Under Probst, the United States topped the medal table at the London 2012 Olympic Games while they finished third at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.
Meanwhile, they finished sixth on the medal table at both the London 2012 Paralympics and Vancouver 2010 Winter Paralympics.
Another of his major achievements also involves helping the USOC settle their long standing revenue sharing dispute with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which they hope paves the way for a successful American Olympic and Paralympic bid in the near future.
Probst has also helped the USOC maintain a strong financial position and his re-election increases the chances that he will be made an IOC member in the near future.
He is already on the IOC International Relations Commission and is considered one of the most influential figures in the Olympic Movement.
"We're extremely pleased that Larry will continue in his role as chairman of the board," said USOC chief executive Scott Blackmun.
"He's shown remarkable leadership and dedication over the last four years, which has resulted in us becoming a stronger National Olympic Committee.
As well as Probst's re-election, the meeting in California also saw Bill Marolt and Whitney Ping join the USOC Board.
Marolt, who serves as President and chief executive of the US Ski and Snowboard Association, replaces the outgoing Mike Plant as the USOC Board's National Governing Bodies Council director.
Meanwhile Ping, a member of the Athens 2004 US Olympic table tennis team, takes over from the outgoing Jair Lynch as the USOC Board's Athletes' Advisory Council director.
Marolt and Ping were selected following a search by the USOC's Nominating and Governance Committee.
They will each now serve a four-year term, after which a vote of retention would extend the term for an additional four years.
"We owe our gratitude to both Mike and Jair, who have helped shape our organisation during their service to our board over the last eight years," said Blackmun.
"In addition, we're happy to welcome both Bill and Whitney to our distinguished list of directors and are confident that their diverse perspectives and broad connections will effectively enhance our board."
By Tom Degun
Source: www.insidethegames.biz