Olympic champion Anton Sikharulidze was unanimously elected Acting President of the Federation figure skating in Russia. The victorious Salt Lake City took the place of the general director of the organization Alexander Kogan. How it happened and what to expect from Sikharulidze — in the material Sport.
According to the charter of the FFKKR, the next presidential elections should be held in 2026. After the death of the long-term head of the federation, Alexander Gorshkov, until that moment only an acting one can head it. In December, at the height of the season, it seemed logical to appoint Kogan, who, even under Gorshkov, was responsible for all current work.
Sikharulidze's candidacy also looked optimal, although he has little experience as a sports functionary. Only in December 2021, the Salt Lake City Olympic champion was elected head of the St. Petersburg Figure Skating Federation. For more than a year, they could not find a worthy candidate for this post, and no one was embarrassed by the fact that Sikharulidze lived and worked in Moscow most of the time. The merits and authority in the world of figure skating, as well as experience in the State Duma, looked much more significant.
Immediately after being elected president of the city federation, he asked Sikharulidze a question about whether he plans, having gained some experience, to head the FFKKR. “Now I am focused on developing figure skating in St. Petersburg,” he answered. “This is a huge layer of work, and in any work I am used to achieving goals. I will strive to bring figure skating in my native city to a new level.”
A year later, when he asked Sikharulidze to sum up the work in the city federation, he focused on the results of the St. Petersburg figure skaters. He especially noted that they won gold and silver in the competitions of men and sports couples, and with incredible competition among women, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva entered the top three. One of the points of Sikharulidze's election program was the creation of conditions for the development of ice dancing, and for the first time in their career, the St. Petersburg duo Ekaterina Mironova/Evgeny Ustenko entered the top five in the Russian championship. Their coach, Elena Sokolova, specifically emphasized that with the arrival of Sikharulidze, conditions appeared for training dancers in their hometown.
For the first time the championship of St. Petersburg was held with spectators and a prize fund. The best figure skaters of the city took part in it, and Anastasia Mishina and Alexander Gallyamov, summing up the season, even singled out this tournament as the most important. The first national jumping championship in history was well organized. It is no coincidence that the Grand Prix final was moved from Sochi to St. Petersburg.
It is worth noting that Sikharulidze led the city federation without interrupting his main work in Moscow. And he organized everything in such a way that the absence of the first person in the presidential office was not felt. The scandal that arose after the high-profile accusations of Elizaveta Nugumanova against coach Evgeny Rukavitsyn can serve as indicative in this regard. Sikharulidze extinguished the scandal, preventing it from flaring up.
““The conflict between an athlete and a coach in figure skating is a common situation,” he said. “In such cases, you just need to calmly talk, decide whether to continue working together or better to scatter. Absolutely no need to bring passions into public space. We figured out the situation with Rukavitsyn and Nugumanova. We listened to both sides and realized that Elizabeth just needs to change her coach. «
Equally balanced were his comments when a grandiose scandal broke out in Beijing related to the situation around Kamila Valieva. Sikharulidze urged to stop the bacchanalia, rally to support our Olympians and treat Kamila like your child, who needs to be hugged, kissed and supported. Especially the Olympic champion Salt Lake City then emphasized that all legal issues should be resolved by highly qualified specialists who can defend the interests of Russian athletes, and comments should be given by public relations specialists who can find the exact wording.
Sikharulidze has all the qualities necessary for a high-class sports functionary: a brilliant reputation gained during the years of performances, the authority of an Olympic champion, knowledge of English, experience in Russian business and government structures. Finally, Tamara Moskvina's school, which is worth several universities. Yes, and personal qualities, from the ability to make a balanced decision to the ability to build the right relationship with athletes, coaches and even journalists, should contribute to his successful work.
Sikharulidze considers contacts with ISU representatives to be a primary task. Both the FFKKR and he himself plan to do everything possible to lift the sanctions on Russian skaters as soon as possible. According to Sikharulidze, there is no reason to sound the alarm and fear the change of sports citizenship by the leaders of the national team.
It remains to wish the new acting. President of the FFKKR to work in his new position as effectively as he has worked all his life.