Veteran U.S. sports executive Doug Arnot can add overseas experience to his resume after being given a leading role in the 2012 London Games. Arnot was appointed Monday as director of games operations by London organizers looking to benefit from his experience helping run two Olympics in the United States. He will be responsible for overall planning, coordination and delivery for the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games, or LOCOG. "Joining LOCOG is another fantastic chapter in my life and I cannot wait to get started," said Arnot, who was also operations chief for Chicago's failed bid for the 2016 Olympics. "London 2012 is a unique challenge and one I could not pass up." Arnot was an executive vice president of the 1994 World Cup in the United States before becoming managing director of venues and operations for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He then served as managing director for event operations at the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City. In addition, Arnot served as CEO of USA Rugby during a restructuring phase. "We've been talking to Doug for the last six months as part of an international search to fill this position," London CEO Paul Deighton said. While working for the Salt Lake organizing committee, Arnot pleaded guilty in 2000 to a misdemeanor assault charge for punching a pedestrian during a road-rage incident. Arnot served 10 days in jail and was sentenced to 100 hours of community service, a fine, 12 months of probation and mandatory anger-management counseling. In 2001, he settled a lawsuit filed by the pedestrian.
