By WLBT Digital | November 20, 2020 at 4:38 PM CST – Updated November 21 at 6:39 AM
WASHINGTON, D.C. (WLBT) – Sen. Roger Wicker named two Gulfport natives to the Commission on the State of U.S. Olympics and Paralympics.
On Friday, Wicker announced that he had tapped John Dane and Brittney Reese to the posts.
Wicker will announce two more appointments to the commission in the coming days, a news release states.
“John Dane and Brittney Reese’s dedication has led them both to the pinnacles of their respective sports,” the senator said. “I am grateful for their willingness to serve on the commission.”
Dane is an Olympic sailor and competed in the 2008 games in Beijing along with his son-in-law Austin Sperry.
Reese is the first American to win a gold medal in long jump since Jackie Joyner-Kersee, who won the top prize at the 1988 Seoul games, the release states.
The commission was created by the federal Empowering Olympic, Paralympic and Amateur Athletes Act of 2020.
Under the measure, the 16-member board is required to look into recent reforms made by the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, assess participation and evaluate its licensing agreements, the release states.
Wicker is responsible for choosing four of the commission’s 16 members and one of its two co-chairs. The commission is required to submit a report to Congress 270 days after the act’s passage.
The senator is chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
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