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USOC CEO Scott Blackmun resigns for health reasons in wake of Nassar scandal

he US Olympic Committee chief executive Scott Blackmun is resigning for health reasons, the organization said on Wednesday, following months of sustained criticism in the wake of the sex abuse scandal involving former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar.

In a statement, the USOC cited Blackmun’s “ongoing health issues” related to prostate cancer, for which he has been receiving treatment. The group also announced new reforms aimed at protecting its athletes from abuse.

The USOC, which announced the change less than a week after the end of the Winter Olympics, had resisted calls to fire Blackmun over the Nassar case. Blackmun, 60, did not attend the Games.“Given Scott’s current health situation, we have mutually agreed it is in the best interest of both Scott and the USOC that we identify new leadership so that we can immediately address the urgent initiatives ahead of us,” the USOC chairman, Larry Probst, said in a statement.

“The important work that Scott started needs to continue and will require especially vigorous attention in light of Larry Nassar’s decades-long abuse of athletes affiliated with USA Gymnastics,” Probst added.


Source :- theguardian

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