TURIN, Italy — The United States was left without a voice on the Olympics' most influential body today when Jim Easton lost his seat on the IOC executive board.

Easton, an outgoing IOC vice president, was defeated 57-36 by South Africa's Sam Ramsamy in the final round of a secret ballot.

Another American, Anita DeFrantz, withdrew earlier as a candidate to give Easton a better chance of retaining a spot on the policy-making body.

Easton himself earlier pulled out of the running for the IOC vice presidency to contest the regular seat on the 15-member board.

The result was another sharp setback for U.S. interests in the European-dominated International Olympic Committee. On Thursday, the IOC rejected bids for reinstatement of two traditional American sports — baseball and softball — at the 2012 London Olympics.

The last time the United States had no member on the board was a seven-month transition period between the end of DeFrantz's term as vice president in July 2001 and Easton's election in February 2002. Otherwise, there had been a continuous U.S. presence on the body since 1989.

The next chance for a U.S. member to get elected to the board will be at the 2007 IOC session in Guatemala.

Germany's Thomas Bach defeated Italy's Mario Pescante 57-34 in today's vice presidential vote. Pescante then won a regular spot on the board, defeating Easton and three other candidates.

Easton had one more shot to stay on the board, going against Ramsamy and Lebanon's Toni Khoury for a seat unofficially reserved for an African member. Khoury went out in the first round, with Ramsamy beating Easton in the next.

"I'm very happy with the way the elections have been handled ... putting the interests of the IOC before personal interests," IOC president Jacques Rogge said.

It's virtually unheard of in IOC politics for two candidates from the same country to seek seats on the board at the same time, and DeFrantz had been under heavy pressure to withdraw in favor of Easton.

DeFrantz pulled out just before the start of the elections at the IOC's general assembly on the eve of the Turin Games.

"There are two candidates from the same country," she said. "In order to remove this difficulty from the session, I will remove my candidacy now. I hope to come back for another day."

Easton took the floor to thank DeFrantz for "making this election a little easier for us." He then withdrew from the vice presidential election, recognizing he had little chance of defeating Bach and Pescante, and put himself down for the regular board seat.

Easton has been an IOC member since 1994 and vice president since 2002. He's the former president of the international archery federation.