DENVER— Thrust into the top spot at the U.S. Olympic Committee with Chicago's bid for the 2016 Games about to go into overdrive, new chief executive officer Stephanie Streeter is convinced the sudden change will have no impact on the effort.

"Not negative, not positive. I feel fairly strongly that that will be the impact," Streeter said Monday, the start of her first full work week since replacing Jim Scherr. "It won't matter on a plus-minus basis."

The leaders of America's national governing bodies aren't convinced. They met via conference call Monday to discuss the unexpected move and start working on a list of questions for USOC chairman Larry Probst.

Skip Gilbert, leader of the NGB Council, is scheduled to meet with Probst on Thursday.

"We're trying to get to a place where everyone understands what's going on," said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics, who was on the call. "The NGBs are seeing a huge changeover in USOC leadership in a time when we've been nothing but successful. Sure, you're always asking yourself how do you get to the next level. But wholesale change at this time is hard to digest."

Former chairman Peter Ueberroth, who still participates in USOC board meetings, praised both Scherr and Streeter in an interview with The Associated Press.

"I think Jim Scherr's future is bright," Ueberroth said. "I think he'll have opportunities in the for-profit sector and not-for-profit sector. He has a good resume and good friends."

And Ueberroth called Streeter "an exceptional executive."

"She's been a terrific CEO and under a great deal of pressure, so I'm pleased that she's taken the role she's taken," he said.

The Chicago 2016 team is set for two important presentations — one in two weeks at an international sports meeting in Denver, then the International Olympic Committee's site visit the first week of April.

The NGBs and leaders of the Chicago bid are concerned about Streeter's ascension to CEO from the volunteer board of directors — whether it's legal and ethical for a board member who helped engineer the CEO's ouster to take his job. Scherr made more than $500,000 a year.

Streeter said there was no conflict of interest.

"You see it happen in corporate America fairly often, where a board determines there's a person they're very comfortable who sets up the organization for future success," she said. "I think that's what the board has done. You put me in an awkward situation asking me that, having me answer that. Because the board asked me" to take the job.

Streeter was widely thought of as one of Scherr's biggest critics on the board. As she did when she was introduced for the job last week, Streeter said she was simply bringing a new set of skills to the job because "the world has changed, situations have changed."

"I don't want to comment on what things he could or couldn't have done better," she said. "All of us could do things better. But I have a duty to — how did you put it? — to hold Jim's feet to the fire. I don't know if I did it more or less than anyone else. But that's what boards do. They make sure CEOs are accountable and leading the organization in a way they want to see it led."

Now, it's the board that will judge Streeter's performance, though how long she'll hold the job is another key concern of the NGBs.

Probst said Streeter would have the job for the foreseeable future and there were no immediate plans to conduct a search for a permanent replacement.

More than three dozen NGB leaders were on Monday morning's conference call, along with USOC board members Bob Bowlsby and Mike Plant. Most were supporters of Scherr, who led the USOC out of turmoil and into unheard-of prosperity over the last six years. On Tuesday, shortly before Scherr's fate was sealed, Gilbert and Penny gave a presentation to the board talking about the improvements.

"It wasn't just a pitch because we thought his job was in jeopardy," Gilbert said. "It was the absolute truth. You look at the old CEOs, it was not a partnership. I think it moved in that direction, and it was credit to Jim and credit to the folks who worked over there."

Gilbert said the NGB leaders also discussed what their next move might be if the meeting with Probst didn't go well. Ultimate oversight of the USOC belongs to Congress under the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act.

"But would we use that card?" Gilbert said. "Everything is pure speculation until we sit down and talk."