DENVER — In the latest scandal to shake the U.S. Olympic Committee, Marty Mankamyer resigned as USOC president after colleagues threatened a no-confidence vote and accused her of working behind the scenes to oust its chief executive.
Mankamyer, 69, submitted her resignation by e-mail Tuesday, the same day The Denver Post reported that when she was a USOC vice president she demanded a partial commission from a real estate agent who sold property to chief executive Lloyd Ward in 2001. Mankamyer denied the allegation.
She was the second USOC president in 10 months to resign. Her predecessor, Sandy Baldwin, left after she admitted lying about her academic credentials.
Mankamyer said in a statement that she doesn't have the energy to continue with the job.
"Because there appeared to be no possibility for peace unless I stepped aside, and with the thought that my action could make a positive difference for an organization to which I have devoted almost 20 years, I have decided to resign," she said.
The USOC's executive committee had been expected to give Mankamyer, the organization's highest-ranking volunteer, a vote of no confidence at a meeting this weekend in Chicago. Seven committee members had already asked her to step down, saying she inflated ethics charges against Ward in an effort to force him out.
Mankamyer, a real estate agent, denied the allegation in the Denver Post report and said she was rightfully owed a "referral fee" from Ward's house purchase because she had showed apartments to Ward's wife in Colorado Springs.
Mankamyer's resignation comes a week after USOC officials were summoned to a Senate Commerce Committee hearing in Washington to discuss the future of the organization, which has been plagued by scandal in recent years.
Ward was cleared last month of charges that he helped his brother's company try to arrange a deal to supply power generators to the 2003 Pan American Games.
His predecessor, Norm Blake, lasted just nine months before resigning in 2000 amid internal strife.
USOC official Alfredo La Mont stepped down in 1999 after revealing a business relationship with a former member of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee. The USOC also was tarnished by the Salt Lake City bribery scandal.
In 1991, president Robert Helmick became the first IOC member to resign under pressure after he was accused of using his position for personal gain.
Under USOC bylaws, vice president-secretariat William Martin will serve as interim president. The board of directors will vote on a permanent replacement after the executive committee makes a recommendation.
Mankamyer will remain on the board of directors.