This took Blackmun's overall bonus and incentive compensation for the year to more than $749,000 (£443,000/€546,000), well over half the total.

The bulk of the remainder was his base compensation, which came to $506,771 (£299,000/€369,000), up 9.7 per cent from the equivalent figure in 2012.

The information is contained in the body's 2013 tax disclosure recently posted on the USOC website.

The document also shows the USOC incurred a $27.5 million (£16.2 million/€20 million) deficit in 2013, comprised of total revenue of $168.2 million (£99.6 million/€122.7 million) and expenses of $195.7 million (£115.8 million/€142.7 million).

This is to be expected in a year with no Summer or Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games: in 2012, a Summer Games year, the USOC reported a surplus of more than $90 million (£53.2 million/€65.6 million).

Blackmun, in situ since 2010, can argue that he has been good value even for this sort of money.

Relations between the USOC and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have improved immeasurably since the dark days following October 2 2009, when Chicago was the first candidate city eliminated in voting to determine the 2016 Summer Games host.

The United States now looks increasingly well-placed to provide the host of the next Summer Olympics and Paralympics on offer in 2024.

Larry Probst, the USOC's volunteer chairman and recently-appointed chairman of the IOC's Press Commission, has been another key figure behind this improvement in relations.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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