Frazier isn't saying he'll seek USOC presidency

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Writer

University of Hawai'i athletic director Herman Frazier isn't saying whether he will be a candidate for the vacant presidency of the United States Olympic Committee when the group votes Saturday in Chicago.

Frazier, a former gold and bronze medalist in track, is one of five vice presidents who called for the ouster of Marty Mankamyer, who resigned as USOC President Tuesday night.

A UH spokesman said Frazier, a two-term vice president, has "no comment" whether he would seek the presidency until after the meeting.

William Martin, the USOC vice president-secretariat, is serving as interim president until a new one is selected to fill out the final two years of Mankamyer's term. He is also athletic director at Michigan.

Under USOC bylaws, the executive committee may nominate a candidate to fill the presidential vacancy. The new president must be approved by the 125-member USOC Board of Directors.

Frazier, 48, has already been recommended for the post of U.S. Chef de Mission, the person who will lead the 800-plus member USOC delegation to the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004. Confirmation could come this month.

Frazier said that position is something his Olympic career has been preparing him for. A member of the gold medal 4x400 relay team in the Montreal Olympics, Frazier has risen in the USOC hierarchy. He was an assistant chef in the 1991 Pan American Games, an assistant chef at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, the chef in the 1999 Pan Am Games and a special assistant to the president at the 2000 Sydney Games.

Frazier took over as athletic director. at UH on Aug. 1, 2002, saying, at the time, that he would consult with school president Evan Dobelle if he chose to pursue the USOC presidency in 2004.