EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee announced Wednesday it has extended CEO Sarah Hirshland's contract for five years, keeping her in her role through the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
In a letter to the USOPC community, chairman Gene Sykes said Hirshland's “accountability, transparency and inclusivity have transformed our organization.”
“In particular, she has prioritized the protection, rights and support of athletes to ensure a safe and empowering environment for all,” Sykes wrote.
The contract runs through 2029, but financial terms were not disclosed. Hirshland received $1.1 million in “reportable compensation” in 2022, according to the USOPC's most recent financial disclosures.
Hirshland took a voluntary pay cut when the COVID-19 pandemic canceled most sports in 2020 and caused the Tokyo Olympics to be postponed for a year.
She has been criticized for parts of her response to the pandemic, as well as her handling of the sexual abuse crisis she inherited when she took office in August 2018.
Ultimately, Hirshland played a key role in negotiating a $380 million settlement between the USOPC, USA Gymnastics, and hundreds of gymnasts abused by Larry Nassar, and she also reoriented the organization's mission to focus more on the overall well-being of its athletes, many of whom had complained they were only judged on their own results.
Hirshland was also involved behind the scenes in the decision to postpone the Tokyo Olympics for a year rather than cancel it altogether, which was a real possibility in the early days of the pandemic.
Cancelling the Olympics altogether would have had a devastating economic impact on Olympics around the world, but especially in the United States, where the sport is not funded by the government.
Hirshland's next major project will be preparing for the Los Angeles Games, the first Summer Olympics to be held in the United States since 1996.
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