01/06/26 11:12:00
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01/06 11:09 CST SafeSport Center turns to Olympic gold medalist Benita
Fitzgerald Mosley as new CEO
SafeSport Center turns to Olympic gold medalist Benita Fitzgerald Mosley as new
CEO
By EDDIE PELLS
AP National Writer
DENVER (AP) --- The U.S. Center for SafeSport announced Benita Fitzgerald
Mosley as its new CEO on Tuesday, placing the 1984 Olympic gold medalist in
charge of rebooting an agency that has been plagued with problems over most of
its nearly nine-year history.
Fitzgerald Mosley will start her job Feb. 1, saying in a statement provided to
The Associated Press that it is "more than a job opportunity for me, it is a
calling.
"We have an extraordinary opportunity to reimagine what excellence in athlete
protection looks like," she said. "And I am deeply confident that we can build
something stronger, steadier, and more hopeful than ever before."
The congressionally chartered center opened in 2017 in the wake of the
mishandling of sex-abuse cases by the U.S. Olympic Committee, USA Gymnastics
and a number of other Olympic-related sports agencies.
"It's made great strides in shifting sport culture toward athlete safety,"
Fitzgerald Mosley said. "However, there is a continuing need to grow this
impact, enhance efficiencies, and evolve the organization to fulfill its
potential for athletes, survivors, and the entire sport community."
The 64-year-old Fitzgerald Mosley has deep experience in the inner workings of
Olympic administration.
She served as chief of sport performance at USA Track and Field from 2009-13
before moving to the U.S. Olympic Committee as its chief operating officer from
2013-16.
More recently, Fitzgerald Mosley was on the Commission on the State of U.S.
Olympics & Paralympics --- a congressionally appointed panel that recommended
some changes for the center after concluding in its report that "it became
clearer with each new piece of evidence that SafeSport has lost the trust of
many athletes."
That was before revelations about the center's hiring and firing of
investigator Jason Krasley, a former police officer who was arrested for sex
crimes he allegedly committed while in his cop job in Pennsylvania.
The center parted ways with CEO Ju'Riese Colon in April and embarked on a
search that lasted more than six months and netted Fitzgerald Mosley to take
SafeSport into its next chapter.
Fitzgerald Mosley is taking over an agency that has made a number of changes to
investigative procedures in response to complaints about cases taking too long
and not being considerate of the trauma felt by some of those who take
complaints to the center.
"She is well-positioned to advance the Center's mission as the organization
completes its first nine years of operation and prepares for the next era,"
Chicka Elloy, vice chair of the SafeSport board and head of its search
committee, said in a statement announcing the hire.
Fitzgerald Mosley's high point as an athlete came at the LA Olympics in 1984
when she became the first American woman to win the 100-meter hurdles. She was
part of the 1980 team that did not travel to Moscow for those boycotted Games.
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