A commission charged with reviewing the Olympic structure in the U.S. is calling for Congress to consider wide-ranging changes, including government funding of the U.S. Center for SafeSport, severing grassroots from the elite sports system and even removing the word “amateur” in a potential rewrite of the 1978 law that created the modern-day Olympic structure. The commission released its 275-page report, concluding in part that “we need a better long-term vision for how we organize Olympic- and Paralympic-movement sports in America.” The tension between grassroots and elite sports is a common theme throughout the document. Untethering the two could benefit both the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the SafeSport center.
