COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (BRAIN) — USA Cycling has Scott Schnitzspahn as the organization's vice president of elite athletics. Schnitzspahn was most recently the high performance director at the U.S. Olympic Committee.
The vice president of elite athletics role will be responsible for the overall financial and administrative management of USA Cycling's elite athlete programs, including resource allocation, athlete access and selection, commercial and technical partnerships, and enhanced funding.
USAC's CEO Derek Bouchard-Hall said, "We are very proud of our success to date in elite athletics, but we have ambition to accomplish much more by recruiting the best and brightest into every role in our organization. Scott personifies exactly that – he is uniquely qualified and experienced to lead USA Cycling's elite athletics programs. He will be a tremendous asset to our staff and coaches and a passionate advocate for our athletes."
In his previous role at the USOC, Schnitzspahn led a team of sport science and medicine professionals and was in charge of allocating financial and other resources to multiple sports, including cycling. He has previously served as sport performance director for USA Triathlon, and has spent his entire career focused on coaching and sport administrative roles. He holds a B.S. in Exercise Science from The Ohio State University.
Schnitzspahn said, "I am joining USA Cycling at such an exciting time in its history – they have increased their ambition for international success and are backing it up with increased investment on athlete development and high performance. I look forward to helping that effort by tackling a number of challenges USA Cycling has faced through the years, such as securing additional financial resources, clarifying the path to accessing national team programs, creating a best in class athlete selection process, and increasing athlete support." He continued, "I also look forward to working with Jim Miller and his team – they have achieved remarkable success across multiple disciplines in cycling."
As previously announced, Jim Miller, who has led the United States to 14 cycling medals in the last three Olympic Games, will be transitioning into the role of Vice President of High Performance. He will be responsible for leading athlete development across all disciplines and the ongoing development and execution of USA Cycling's elite high performance program, which is supported by both the U.S. Olympic Committee and the USA Cycling Foundation.
"I'm thrilled my new role will allow me to put more time and energy into working directly with coaches and athletes to help them perform to the best of their abilities," said Miller. "With Scott on board, I will be able to focus on building a world class high performance team and achieving our very ambitious athletic goals for Tokyo and beyond."
