Jair Lynch Named to Washington 2024 Board

Washington 2024, the organization aiming to bring the 2024 Summer Olympics to the region, named local developer and former Olympian Jair Lynch to its board on Tuesday.

Lynch, who turns 43 on Oct. 2, was a member of the U.S. men’s gymnastics team at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and the 1996 Games in Atlanta. The District native won a silver medal in the parallel bars while captaining the U.S. men’s team in Atlanta. He is a member of the U.S. Gymnastics Hall of Fame.

The Stanford alum founded a real estate development and investment company in 1998 following the end of his athletic career. The company grew to become Jair Lynch Development Partners, which has overseen a multitude of large residential and commercial development projects in the District.

“Honored to have Jair Lynch join the #DC2024 board today. His deep knowledge of the @Olympic movement & Washington region will be invaluable,” Washington 2024 Chairman Russ Ramsey tweeted Tuesday afternoon.

Recently, JLDP became a new venture partner in the redevelopment of Half Street just north of Nationals Park.

Lynch is a former member of the U.S. Olympic Committee board of directors, bringing some additional experience to a Washington 2024 board that includes a slew of regional heavy-hitters. Lynch, however, is the only one to have competed in an Olympics and to have left an indelible mark on the competition.

In 2013, the International Gymnastics Federation approved naming a parallel bar routine element after Lynch.

A “Lynch” is a straddled, catch-and-release move backward over the bar (also known as a Tkatchev) that includes a half-turn prior to the catch to a mixed ”el-grip” and swing back up to a handstand, according to USA Gymnastics.

The move sounds more complicated than bringing the Olympics to D.C., so Washington 2024 has that going for it.

In June, Washington was named one of four U.S. cities in the running to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The others are Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The USOC is expected to make its selection next year. The International Olympic Committee will choose the winning city in 2017.

View the article at BizJournals.com.