Anita Luceete DEFRANTZ

Anita DeFrantz continues to carve niches for herself in Olympic history. A 1974 graduate of Connecticut College, she went on to earn an LL.B. from Penn in 1977. While a law student she made the U.S. Olympic eight and became the first black to compete for the United States in Olympic rowing. Before the 1980 Olympics she distinguished herself by winning six different national titles and sharing a silver medal at the 1978 World Championships in the coxed four. She then made the 1980 Olympic team, but the boycott dashed those hopes. DeFrantz was an outspoken critic of the boycott and with her law background was an eloquent spokesperson for the athletes. Though it changed nothing, one congressman commented that he was highly impressed by her presentation and would welcome her in any law firm. For her support of the Olympic movement, in 1980 she became only the second American athlete to receive the Bronze Medal of the Olympic Order from the International Olympic Committee. Miss DeFrantz has been a member of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness, a trustee of Connecticut College, on the Executive Board of the USOC, was vice chair for the Athletes' Advisory Council of the USOC, and worked as an assistant vice president for the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee (LAOOC). In 1984 she became President of the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles (AAFLA), which managed the financial legacy of the LAOOC. In 1986, DeFrantz was elected to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), only the fifth woman to be elected to that group. She has served on the Executive Committee of that group and in 2002, ran for President of the IOC, though without success.