36 U.S.C. § 220503
Section 220503 · Purposes
Amended 4 times on record
Applied in 31 court decisions — leading case San Francisco Arts & Athletics, Inc. v. United States Olympic Committee (1987)
Most recently applied in Gold Medal LLC v. USA Track & Field (August 2018)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
The purposes of the corporation are—
to establish national goals for amateur athletic activities and encourage the attainment of those goals;
to coordinate and develop amateur athletic activity in the United States, directly related to international amateur athletic competition, to foster productive working relationships among sports-related organizations;
to exercise exclusive jurisdiction, directly or through constituent members of committees, over—
all matters pertaining to United States participation in the Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games, the Pan-American Games, and the Parapan American Games, including representation of the United States in the games; and
the organization of the Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games, the Pan-American Games, and the Parapan American Games when held in the United States;
to obtain for the United States, directly or by delegation to the appropriate national governing body, the most competent amateur representation possible in each event of the Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games, the Pan-American Games, and the Parapan American Games;
to promote and support amateur athletic activities involving the United States and foreign nations;
to promote and encourage physical fitness and public participation in amateur athletic activities;
to assist organizations and persons concerned with sports in the development of amateur athletic programs for amateur athletes;
to provide swift resolution of conflicts and disputes involving amateur athletes, national governing bodies, and amateur sports organizations, and protect the opportunity of any amateur athlete, coach, trainer, manager, administrator, or official to participate in amateur athletic competition;
to foster the development of and access to amateur athletic facilities for use by amateur athletes and assist in making existing amateur athletic facilities available for use by amateur athletes;
to provide and coordinate technical information on physical training, equipment design, coaching, and performance analysis;
to encourage and support research, development, and dissemination of information in the areas of sports medicine and sports safety;
to encourage and provide assistance to amateur athletic activities for women;
to encourage and provide assistance to amateur athletic programs and competition for amateur athletes with disabilities, including, where feasible, the expansion of opportunities for meaningful participation by such amateur athletes in programs of athletic competition for able-bodied amateur athletes;
to encourage and provide assistance to amateur athletes of racial and ethnic minorities for the purpose of eliciting the participation of those minorities in amateur athletic activities in which they are underrepresented;
to promote a safe environment in sports that is free from abuse, including emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, of any amateur athlete; and
to effectively oversee the national governing bodies with respect to compliance with and implementation of the policies and procedures of the corporation, including policies and procedures on the establishment of a safe environment in sports as described in paragraph (15).
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Revised
Section
Source (U.S. Code)
Source (Statutes at Large)
220503
36:374.
Sept. 21, 1950, ch. 975, title I, § 104, as added Nov. 8, 1978, Pub. L. 95–606, § 1(b), 92 Stat. 3046.
Before clause (1), the word “objects” is omitted as included in “purposes”.
In clause (4), the word “competition” is omitted as included in “each event”.
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2020—Par. (3). Pub. L. 116–189, § 4(a)(3)(A), substituted “the Pan-American Games, and the Parapan American Games” for “and the Pan-American Games” in subpars. (A) and (B).
Par. (4). Pub. L. 116–189, § 4(a)(3)(B), substituted “the Pan-American Games, and the Parapan American Games” for “and Pan-American Games”.
Par. (9). Pub. L. 116–189, § 6(a)(1), inserted “and access to” after “development of”.
Par. (16). Pub. L. 116–189, § 6(a)(2)–(4), added par. (16).
2018—Par. (15). Pub. L. 115–126 added par. (15).
1998—Pars. (3), (4). Pub. L. 105–277, § 142(d)(1), substituted “Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games” for “Olympic Games” wherever appearing.
Par. (13). Pub. L. 105–277, § 142(d)(2), added par. (13) and struck out former par. (13) which read as follows: “to encourage and provide assistance to amateur athletic programs and competition for individuals with disabilities, including, where feasible, the expansion of opportunities for meaningful participation by individuals with disabilities in programs of athletic competition for able-bodied individuals; and”.