It followed a survey by America's 40 Olympic sports bodies who said unanimously said that they had no confidence in Streeter, a former chief executive of Banta Corporation, a printing company.

The USOC now plans to hire a firm of headhunters and hopes to find a replacement by the end of the month.
 
Streeter, who controversially replaced Jim Scherr after he was forced to resign in March, said she wanted to get back into the corporate world and that her decision had nothing to do with Chicago's failure to win its bid to host the 2016 Olympics.

The USOC have been blamed for humiliating United States President Barack Obama, who travelled here to join Chicago's delegation presenting their case to host the 2016 Games to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

But only 18 IOC members voted for Chicago as it went out in the first round with Rio de Janeiro eventually winning.

Streeter said: "I had made this decision prior to the bid and clearly it makes sense to announce it as soon after as possible.

"It makes sense to announce it at this time so the USOC has a clean slate when it goes into the search process."

Larry Probst, the chairman of the USOC, whose position is also under threat, claimed that he did not want Streeter to leave.

He said: "We were disappointed when she told us she did not want to be considered for the CEO position.

"She's done an excellent job and we're all very grateful for her many contributions to the US Olympic Movement."

Streeter said that she would stay on until a replacement is in place.

The USOC's poor relationship with the IOC has been blamed for Chicago's failure to be awarded the Olympics.

Jacques Rogge, the President of the IOC, was especially angry when the USOC announced in June that they planned to set-up their own Olympic television network.

Streeter said: "I think we miscalculated on the network.

"We miscalculated the reaction from the IOC and our TV partners at NBC.

"I still think it's a good idea.

"In retrospect, I would've altered timing on the announcement."

But Streeter claimed that Chicago's defeat should not be blamed just on the USOC.

She said: "There were many factors that played into the Chicago showing.

"The network was one of them, and there were dozens more that others speculated on."


Related stories
September 2009: We made mistake over Olympic TV channel admits USOC chairman
March 2009: Scherr resigns as head of USOC