Latest news with #U.S.OlympicCommittee
Fast Company
2 days ago
- Business
- Fast Company
Athena Capital announces new board, headlined by Olympic champion Lindsey Vonn
Olympic gold-medalist and alpine skiing legend Lindsey Vonn is no stranger to going downhill—but she's soon going to be focused on making investors' wealth climb. Vonn is joining the newly formed advisory board at Athena Capital, an all-female venture capital and private equity firm. Isabelle Freidheim, the founder and managing partner of Athena Capital, says that she and Vonn have been acquainted for some time, as Freidheim had been involved with the U.S. Olympic Committee, and had met with her at numerous conferences over the years. 'I was always impressed with how genuine she is,' Freidheim says of Vonn. Accordingly, 'Bringing someone like Lindsey in, who is like-minded and mission-aligned, brings more enthusiasm to the firm.' As such, 'we're very excited to announce her joining our board.' Vonn is an active investor and businesswoman, but is best known for her exploits on the slopes, which include three Olympic medals, eight World Championships, and more. She is also planning a comeback for the 2026 Winter Olympics, which will be held in Cortina, Italy. The comeback is notable as Vonn, now 40 years old, has recovered from a partial knee replacement as well. So, in addition to her board duties, she'll be giving the Olympics one last shot, but she's confident she can balance the two. 'Athena's mission is something that deeply resonates with me, so I was excited to get on board. When I commit to something, I do everything in my power to approach it to the absolute best of my ability. Even though the next year will be busy, I feel strongly about my role as a board member just as I do about my athletic career,' Vonn tells Fast Company. ' Competitive skiing is all about operating under pressure and being precise with your every move. It requires extensive knowledge and training to be successful in the sport. That's very similar to what venture capitalists do: evaluating potential, taking calculated risks, and trying to stay on top of everything you're doing. Both require a sharpness and tenacity, and I think a similar competitive mindset exists between the two.' With her interest and experience in the investment space, Freidheim says that having Vonn join the board made sense. 'Lindsey's been an investor for quite some time already, and is pretty astute. She has a high profile,' she says. Freidheim says that other members of the board will be announced one by one, on an ongoing basis. In the meantime, Vonn will focus on skiing—and trying to make some noise on the slopes in addition to the boardroom. 'I felt better skiing this past season than I did at the end of my career, and I am without pain for the first time in years,' she says. 'When I retired in 2019, it was of necessity. My body was broken beyond repair, so I knew it was a choice I had to make, but it wasn't fully on my terms. Competing in another Olympics in Cortina would feel full-circle.'
NBC Sports
17-05-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
If active NFL players are in play, the selection of the U.S. men's flag team will become very interesting
The NFL hopes to persuade the various owners to get behind the idea of allowing active players to participate in the 2028 Olympics flag football tournament in part by limiting participation to one player from each NFL team. That will make for some interesting decisions regarding which players from each franchise will be the one to be permitted to play. Presumably, more than one player per NFL team will want to do it. It could make for some interesting debates as to who gets to go. Then there's the question of who will pick the Olympics flag football team, and how the decisions will be made. Will the U.S. Olympic Committee pick the players? Will there be a qualification process? A competition? Owners will want to minimize the occasions for players to get injured. They'll want the team to be hand picked. Then there's the argument made last year by current U.S. flag football quarterback Darrell 'Housh' Doucette that it's 'disrespectful' for NFL players to horn in on the flag turf and that Doucette would be a better pick than Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. If the owners pass the resolution allowing active players to play, it will be only the beginning of a process that will entail tough choices for the USOC — and heated conversations about which player from each team will be allowed to play. And whether the U.S. men's flag football team members for the other three years and 50 weeks will be told to take a seat and allow NFL players to play a version of the sport that is very different from 11-on-11 tackle.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Maine Gov. Janet Mills beats Donald Trump, gets school meal funds restored while defending trans kids
The Trump administration has backed down after a federal court intervened in its attempt to cut off funding for Maine's school meal programs—punishment for the state's refusal to discriminate against transgender people by barring trans girls from participating in girls' sports. Under a legal settlement announced Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture agreed to restore access to millions of dollars in nutrition funding and to stop using school meals as a weapon in President Donald Trump's anti-trans agenda—at least for now. Keep up with the latest in + news and politics. The retreat follows a now-infamous confrontation between Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills and Trump at the White House in February. When Trump demanded she comply with his executive order banning transgender athletes from girls' and women's sports or lose all federal funding, Mills didn't flinch. Related: Maine Gov. Janet Mills confronts Donald Trump to his face over anti-trans sports order at White House 'We'll see you in court,' she said. On Friday, standing before reporters, she delivered the follow-up: 'Well, we did see him in court—and we won,' the Portland Press Herald reports. The victory for Maine is also a win for basic decency and due process. Trump's USDA had frozen more than $3 million in funding for programs that feed over 170,000 children and vulnerable adults in the state, claiming Maine's inclusive sports policy violated Title IX. But a federal judge ruled last month that the agency had likely failed to follow required legal procedures. Rather than risk a broader injunction, the USDA folded. 'It's unfortunate that my office had to resort to federal court just to get USDA to comply with the law and its own regulations,' said Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey in a statement. 'But we are pleased that the lawsuit has now been resolved and that Maine will continue to receive funds as directed by Congress to feed children and vulnerable adults.' Related: Maine Gov. Janet Mills doubles down on defying Trump's attacks on trans rights after court victory The Trump administration is still pursuing a separate legal attack on Maine, suing the state over its policy and threatening to revoke $250 million in broader education funding through the Department of Education, The New York Times reports. Civil rights advocates warn that the broader case is part of a calculated campaign to undermine protections for transgender students nationwide—and to use the machinery of government to intimidate states that refuse to fall in line. Trump signed the misleadingly titled 'No Men in Women's Sports' executive order on February 5. It applies to all public schools, colleges, and even the U.S. Olympic Committee. It requires institutions to ban transgender girls and women from participating in female sports categories or lose federal funding. At its signing, Trump parroted debunked claims that thousands of victories had been 'stolen' from cisgender athletes by trans competitors—statements not supported by any data. The American Civil Liberties Union is tracking 575 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in state legislatures in 2025 across the United States. These proposals include restrictions on health care access, curriculum censorship, forced outing of LGBTQ students, barriers to accurate identification documents, and bans on participation in school sports and access to public accommodations. In reality, NCAA president Charlie Baker recently testified that fewer than 10 transgender athletes compete among the 510,000 student-athletes in the NCAA.
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump vs. Maine: State refuses anti-trans sports policies as federal agencies push to cut funding
Maine is on the brink of losing federal education funding simply because it refuses to discriminate against transgender athletes. Even though Donald Trump can't singularly withhold federal education funds or shut down the Department of Education, he's trying anyway. And no state has felt the brunt of his attacks more than Maine as it stands by its trans students. On Saturday, Trump demanded "a full throated apology from the Governor herself." Here's why Trump is going after the state and its leader. Keep up with the latest in + news and politics. The Trump Administration is currently threatening to withhold federal funding into the state of Maine over its inclusive policies for transgender athletes. Trump signed the so-called 'No Men in Women's Sports' executive order in February, directing federal agencies, public schools, colleges, and even the U.S. Olympic Committee to ban trans women and girls from competing in women's sports. He said that schools and athletic organizations that do not comply will lose federal funding. Maine's Democratic Gov. Janet Mills did not agree to obey Trump's transgender sports ban. Trump singled out Mills at the National Governors Association meeting at the White House shortly after signing the order, directly asking, 'Is Maine here, the governor of Maine here? Are you not going to comply with it?" Mills replied, 'I'm complying with state and federal laws.' Trump then rambled, 'Well— I'm— we are the federal law. You better do it. You better do it because you're not going to get any federal funding at all if you don't. And by the way, your population, even though it's somewhat liberal — although I did very well there — your population doesn't want men playing in women's sports. So you better comply because otherwise, you're not getting any federal funding.' To which Mills only responded, 'We'll see you in court.' Maine's trans-inclusive sports policies are indeed following state and federal laws. Discrimination against transgender individuals is illegal in Maine under the Maine Human Rights Act, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that federal laws protecting against sex discrimination in employment, including Title VII, encompass gender identity. Trump's executive orders, which are being challenged in courts, are not law. As for the science, a comprehensive review of several studies on trans participation in sports under their gender identity found that trans athletes, post-transition, are "more similar to their gender identity." It noted that both transgender and cisgender athletes show great variations in ability. Trump's Department of Education, which he is attempting to completely dismantle through a recent executive order, launched an investigation into Maine shortly after Trump's heated exchange with Mills. A second investigation was then initiated by the Department of Health and Human Services. The office concluded after just four days and without interviewing any state officials that Maine violated Title IX by allowing trans athletes to compete. Such investigations usually take months. The agencies on Monday gave the state ten days to comply with its demands to discriminate against trans students or it would "initiate the process to limit MDOE's access to federal funding," Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights, said in a statement. While Trump has threatened to withhold federal funding if Maine does not comply, Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey maintains that this is "illegal." 'Any attempt by the President to cut federal funding in Maine unless transgender athletes are restricted from playing sports would be illegal and in direct violation of court orders,' Frey said last month, via The Hill. 'Fortunately, though, the rule of law still applies in this country, and I will do everything in my power to defend Maine's laws and block efforts by the President to bully and threaten us.' Mills also said in a statement following her and Trump's spat that "if the President attempts to unilaterally deprive Maine school children of the benefit of Federal funding, my Administration and the Attorney General will take all appropriate and necessary legal action to restore that funding and the academic opportunity it provides. The State of Maine will not be intimidated by the President's threats." The governing body that oversees Maine's school sports, the Maine Principals' Association, has not budged on its trans-inclusive policies, holding that the Trump Administration does not have jurisdiction over it. MPS said in a statement via Politico on Wednesday that it 'receives no direct or indirect federal funding, so it is not beholden to Title IX enforcement by HHS and therefore cannot be included in any future investigations or litigation." While Maine receives more than $280 million in funding from the Education Department for several programs, including school lunches and special education, these funds do not go to athletics, according to MPS.
CBS News
20-03-2025
- Sport
- CBS News
Kirsty Coventry elected IOC president, becoming first woman and first African to lead the Olympic body
Kirsty Coventry was elected president of the International Olympic Committee on Thursday and became the first woman and first African to get perhaps the biggest job in world sports. "It is a signal that we are truly global," the Zimbabwe sports minister and two-time Olympic swimming gold medalist said. Hers was a stunning first-round win in the seven-candidate contest after voting by 97 IOC members. She gets an eight-year mandate into 2033 aged just 41 — youthful by the historical standards of the IOC. It was the most open and hard-to-call IOC presidential election in decades with Coventry expected to lead the first round short of an absolute majority. Though several rounds of votes were widely predicted, she got the exact majority of 49 needed. Coventry's win also was a victory for outgoing IOC president Thomas Bach, who has long been seen as promoting her as his successor. He did not use his right to vote. "The young girl who first started swimming in Zimbabwe all those years ago could never have dreamt of this moment," Coventry said in her acceptance speech. "I am particularly proud to be the first female IOC president and also the first from Africa," she added. "I hope that this vote will be an inspiration to many people. Glass ceilings have been shattered today, and I am fully aware of my responsibilities as a role model." "I will make all of you very, very proud and hopefully extremely confident in the decision you have taken. Now we have got some work together," she said. Walking to the podium, she was congratulated and kissed on both cheeks by Juan Antonio Samaranch, her expected closest rival who got 28 votes. Also in the race were four presidents of sports governing bodies: Track and field's Sebastian Coe, skiing's Johan Eliasch, cycling's David Lappartient, and gymnastics' Morinari Watanabe. Also contending was Prince Feisal al Hussein of Jordan. Coventry will formally replace her mentor Bach on June 23 — officially Olympic Day — as the 10th IOC president in its 131-year history. Bach reached the maximum 12 years in office. "We celebrate Kirsty's election as president of the IOC and eagerly anticipate collaborating with her as she steers the Olympic Movement into the future," the U.S. Olympic Committee said in a statement. "As an Olympian and a dedicated IOC member, Kirsty has demonstrated a strong commitment to advancing global sport and creating opportunities for athletes. As we look forward to a transformative decade of Olympic and Paralympic sport in the United States—welcoming the Games back in 2028 and 2034—a robust partnership with the IOC will be essential. We are confident that under Kirsty's leadership, the IOC will provide the stability and support necessary to achieve our shared goals." Key challenges for the 41-year-old Auburn University graduate will be steering the Olympic movement through political and sporting issues toward the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles , including engaging in diplomacy with U.S. President Donald Trump. Coventry's IOC will also need to find a host for the 2036 Summer Games which could go to India or the Middle East. The strongest candidates in a five-month campaign with tightly controlled rules drafted by the Bach-led IOC seemed to be Coventry — who recently gave birth to her second child — IOC vice president Samaranch and Coe. Coventry's manifesto offered mostly continuity from Bach with little new detail, while her rivals had specifics to benefit Olympic athletes, which she was as recently as 2016 in Rio de Janeiro . Coventry in her manifesto wrote she would "continue to prioritize [athletes'] mental health, physical recovery, and amplify their holistic well-being to help them thrive throughout their athletic careers and beyond." Coe's World Athletics broke an Olympic taboo by paying $50,000 to track and field gold medalists in Paris last year. Samaranch promised to relax strict IOC commercial rules and give athletes control of footage of their Olympic performances. Samaranch tried to follow his father, also Juan Antonio Samaranch, who was the IOC's seventh president from 1980 to 2001. Coe aimed to add to a remarkable career of Olympic triumphs: A two-time Olympic gold medalist in the 1,500 meters, he led a bidding team for the 2012 London Olympics, then worked for the next seven years to head the organizing team of those widely praised Games. He got just eight votes. It has been a stellar week for Bach, who greeted Coventry and shared warm smiles after her acceptance speech. Bach was feted on Wednesday in an emotional start to the IOC annual meeting, getting lavish praise and the title of honorary president for life. He repeated his wish to offer advice to the next president. His hands-on executive-style presidency will deliver over a financially secure IOC, on track to earn more than $8 billion in revenue through the 2028 LA Olympics, and with a slate of future hosts through 2034: in Italy, the United States, France, Australia and finally the U.S. again, when the Winter Games return to Salt Lake City. A signature Bach policy also has been gender parity, with equal quotas of men and women athletes at the 2024 Paris Olympics and giving a better balance of female members of the IOC and the executive board he chairs, which now has seven women among its 15 members, including Coventry. Her win on Thursday will only add to Bach's legacy for promoting women. Coventry won back-to-back titles in 200-meters backstroke at the 2004 Athens Olympics and Beijing four years later. She joined the IOC in 2013, almost one year after a disputed athlete election at the London Olympics. Her place among the four athletes elected was eventually awarded after Court of Arbitration for Sport rulings against two opponents. The next president can oversee the IOC making a statement choice for its host for the 2036 Summer Games. "There is one and one only," Samaranch said on Wednesday when asked about challenges ahead. "We must concentrate (on) successful and relevant Olympic Games. The rest comes with success in the Games." The voters in the exclusive invited club of IOC members include royal family members, former lawmakers and diplomats, business leaders, sports officials and Olympic athletes. Even an Oscar-winning actress, Michelle Yeoh. Members voted without hearing further presentations from the candidates in an election that swung on a discreet network of friendships and alliances largely forged out of sight.
