ISU Presidential Candidates Finalized

(ATR) Four candidates enter the race for president of the International Skating Union.

The ISU confirms the field of contenders following the deadline to apply. One will succeed Ottavio Cinquanta at the federation congress in Dubrovnik, Croatia June 6-10. Cinquanta has been the president of the ISU for over 20 years, first elected in 1994.

Christopher Buchanan of Great Britain, Jan Dijkema of the Netherlands, Gyorgy Sallak of Hungary, and Didier Gailhaguet of France are the four confirmed candidates. Dijkema was added to the list after Buchanan, Sallak, and Gailhaguet confirmed their candidacies in March.

Gailhaguet has drawn some controversy to the election. The current president of the French Ice Sports Federation, Gailhaguet is remembered for his involvement in the figure skating pairs judging scandal from the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

After admitting to pressuring a French judge to favor the Russian pair over the Canadians, Gailhaguet received a three year ban from the ISU, which he served. The scandal led to the ISU revamping its scoring system to prevent such an incident from happening again.

Gailhaguet faces challenge from three candidates with ISU experience. Jan Dijkema is the ISU speed-skating vice president. Buchanan is the president of the National Ice Skating Association of Great Britain and has been the chairman of the ISU Synchronized Skating Technical Committee for the past six years. Sallak is the Hungarian National Skating Federation director general and ISU development coordinator.

Former United States Figure Skating president Patricia St. Peter was rumored to be a candidate, but she did not submit a candidature file to the ISU before April 25.

Written by Aaron Bauer.

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