A major first in the history of the Olympic movement: a woman was chosen to head an organizing committee for the Olympic Games. She's American.
Kathy Carter, 51, has been appointed general director of the organizing committee for the Los Angeles 2028 Games. The announcement was made on Tuesday September 14 in a press release. Long occupied by Gene Sykes, particularly during the application phase, the position had been vacant for almost three years.
By choosing Kathy Carter to sit in seat number 2, one rank below President Casey Wasserman, Los Angeles 2028 is not shaking up its organizational chart. The American had already been in the house since 2018.
Based in New York, she headed the marketing department. She held the roles of head of revenue and general manager of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Properties LLC, the company created by LA 2028 and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) to oversee the marketing of the Games and Team USA. But with this choice, the organizing committee sends a double signal.
The first is symbolic. By taking over as general director of LA 2028, Kathy Carter becomes the first woman to lead an organizing committee for an edition of the Olympic Games. With Seiko Hashimoto, the Japanese of Tokyo 2020 had already feminized the presidential function. Along the way, after the forced resignation of Yoshiro Mori. But the Californians will remain the first to have entrusted the keys to the ship to a general director.
The other signal is more expected. With less than seven years to go, Los Angeles 2028 sets the tone: marketing will be one of the organizing team's priorities, if not its main one. He already was. But the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the situation. The search for new partners is becoming more and more complex, despite the still colossal appeal of the Olympic event.
With a background in football, Kathy Carter was one of the founders of Major League Soccer. She chaired Soccer United Marketing for several years. She was also in charge of finding partners for the 1994 Football World Cup in the United States.
Since being recruited as head of marketing for Los Angeles 2028, the organizing committee has not lagged behind. Three major partners – Delta Air Lines, Comcast and Salesforce – have already been on board, with contracts estimated at $400 million each. Three other official sponsors – Deloitte, Nike and Ralph Lauren – have also joined the adventure.
The Los Angeles 2028 team currently has just under 100 employees, including around ten directors.
Just appointed, Kathy Carter has warned: in the coming months she will focus on discussing with the IOC what Los Angeles 2028 can, or cannot, provide in terms of services and benefits. Californians announced a budget of $6,9 billion. They do not intend to increase it, despite a still uncertain health and security context.
« The priority will be to see how we can change the discourse and think differently about the Games themselves., explains Kathy Carter. We need to differentiate between what is a “must” and what is an opportunity to do things differently“. Move the lines, therefore, but without risking slippage.
