John Cheng
Li Li Leung remembers just wanting to help the sport that had meant so much in her life. As USA Gymnastics stumbled through leadership changes and struggled to change amid a sexual abuse crisis, Leung called to see what she could do.
Nearly six years later, her outreach led beyond an offer to volunteer. Now the president and CEO, Leung has transformed the organization and brought it through bankruptcy.
USA Gymnastics has changed its culture to better support athletes, brought back commercial partners, and in Paris it returned to the podium in notable ways, with the women’s artistic team winning gold for the first time since Rio and the men’s team winning a medal for the first time since 2008.
“What I thought about was, this is what needs to be done to be able to build and progress things,” Leung said. “The sport had to succeed. … It had to get better.”
It did, with Leung’s leadership. She built a team to tackle the problems USA Gymnastics would face coming out of bankruptcy and settling with abuse survivors. In emphasizing teamwork and lack of ego, she ended up with an all-female executive team.
It’s a notable turnaround for the national governing body and Leung. Though she was happily working at the NBA when she volunteered, that call helped her mold the sport that had done so much for her.
“I had a love-hate relationship with it and when I was done with it, I really didn’t want anything to do with the sport,” said Leung, who competed at Michigan. “Then fast-forward 25 years later and this opportunity comes up, and the opportunity to positively impact a sport that molded me into the person that I am today was too great of an opportunity to pass up.” — Rachel Axon
Li Li Leung
President and Chief Executive Officer, USA Gymnastics
Born: Brooklyn
Education: University of Michigan, B.A., psychology; University of Massachusetts, M.S., sport management, and MBA
Family: Spouse, Christopher Smits; (fur)children, Crazy (cat) (20) and Suma (dog) (8.5)
Why she’s a Game Changer
Leung led USA Gymnastics to a settlement agreement with sexual abuse survivors, brought the embattled organization back from bankruptcy and built a new culture of athlete empowerment.
Getting to know
Passion that keeps me ticking: Caring for animals in need.
New place I want to travel to next: I’ve been lucky enough to travel to so many places … but I would like to go back to Bhutan and do the Snowman Trek.
Attribute I look for when hiring: Curiosity.
Sports business story I’m excited to follow in the next year: Athlete empowerment.
I have a dream that one day … : We’ll have true equality in the world.
Best tool to keep me organized in work and in life: My husband. He keeps me grounded and provides me with perspective.
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Publish date : 2024-09-15 23:32:00
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