Rachel Mayer

Rachel Mayer was an American figure skater. She competed in ice dance with Peter Breen at the 1992 Winter Olympics. They skated their original dance to "Saak-I-Jaarven" and their free dance to the soundtrack of "Doctor Zhivago". [http://homepage3.nifty.com/skatemusic/Skaters-Music/Dance_M-R.htm] Mayer later married Tom Godino, Jr. and changed her name to Rachel Mayer Godino. In 2001, she was elected Chair of the U.S. Olympic Committee's Athletes' Advisory Council (AAC) for 2001-2004 and served on the USOC Board of Directors and the USOC Executive Committee. She also served on the Salt Lake Organizing Committee Board of Trustees, which helped plan the 2002 Winter Olympics. [http://hatch.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=430&Month=3&Year=2002&IsTextOnly=True]

In 2003, the USOC was involved in controversy concerning its CEO, Lloyd Ward, and its President, Marty Mankamyer. Rachel was called upon to testify in Congress, before both Senate and House committees, about various issues concerning the structure, governance, and operation of the USOC. The controversy led to the creation in 2003 of both a USOC Governance and Ethics Task Force and an Independent Commission on Reform of the United States Olympic Committee, the members of the latter chosen by members of Congress. As the Chair of the Athletes Advisory Council, Rachel was a leader of the effort to reform the USOC, which culminated at a USOC Board of Directors meeting in October 2003, when the USOC Board voted to change the USOC governance structure, going from a 123-member Board, 21 Executive Committee members, and 19 committees with 195 committee members to an 11-member Board with no executive committee and four (4) standing committees with 20 members (most of whom are also members of the 11-member Board).

Since January 2006, Rachel Godino has served as a member of the Board of Athletes for Hope, a public charity founded to, among other things, increase the involvement of Olympic and professional athletes in charitable and community causes.

Godino lives in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Competitive highlights

(with Breen)

1991
*U.S. Championships - 6th

1992
*U.S. Championships - 2nd
*Olympics - 15th
*World Championships - 15th

External links

* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE5DA1530F932A25752C0A964958260 New York Times, "An Upheaval in Ice Dancing"]
* [http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:GyKt7EkK3bUJ:64.224.173.230/olympics/rachelmayergodino.htm+%22Rachel+Mayer%22+ice&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=8 Godino elected to Athletes' Advisory Council] [energycommerce.house.gov/reparchives/108/Hearings/03192003hearing821/Godino1383.htm] [energycommerce.house.gov/publications/108-CTCP031903witlist.shtml]