GENEVA (AP) 鈥� Ice skating鈥檚 governing body glided into its presidential election Friday, free of the its Olympic sibling skiing.
Jae Youl Kim was reelected by acclamation of International Skating Union members for a second four-year term. It comes just months after he also was elevated to the International Olympic Committee鈥檚 representing winter sports.
A United States-educated Samsung executive, Kim鈥檚 first election win of 2026 was on the eve of the that proved a clear success on the ice.
Milan was a stage for the compelling personal stories of U.S. figure skating stars and 鈥� albeit with very different results 鈥� and Dutch speed skater .
鈥淢ilan was a huge success, we couldn鈥檛 ask for anything better,鈥� Kim told The Associated Press in an interview. 鈥淰enues were good and our skaters were incredible.鈥�
He is now skating鈥檚 first representative on the influential IOC board for 18 years, and could stay through the 2034 Utah Olympics and what shapes to be a dynamic review of Winter Games sports and events.
Kim earned the trust of the eight-sport Winter Olympic Federations group against campaigning by Johan Eliasch, who was ousted Thursday as president of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS).
Eliasch lost a bruising FIS election by a single vote after a campaign that exposed disquiet in the ski family about its finances and future strategy.
The ISU member federations met in relative calm for their congress meetings in Tenerife that doubled a prize money fund for skaters next season and was capped with a presidential election.
A fan’s joy
Kim鈥檚 family helped found and run a storied daily newspaper, and he arrived in sports as a fan who grew up skating on frozen lakes and ponds in Seoul.
鈥淚 want to make sure that skating remains as inspiring to as many people as it was to me,鈥� he said in an interview at ISU headquarters in the Olympics鈥� home city Lausanne, Switzerland.
He studied politics and business at universities in the U.S. 鈥� Wesleyan, Johns Hopkins and Stanford 鈥� before working at Samsung. He later led the Korea Skating Union, and joined the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games organizing committee.
Respect for athletes guides his presidency, Kim suggests, and he cites being among Leerdam鈥檚 2.5 million followers on Instagram even before she met and got engaged to , the boxer and YouTube influencer.
鈥淛ake Paul is a very interesting man, very clever,鈥� said Kim, of speed skating鈥檚 best-known fan in Milan.
On the figure skating rink, Kim found joy in Liu鈥檚 stunning Olympic title 鈥� 鈥渟he is one of a kind鈥� 鈥� and admiration for how Ilia Malinin handled a brutal fall out of the medals, setting up potential redemption at the , likely in Lyon.
鈥淚鈥檓 amazed how he carried himself after the free program,鈥� Kim said. 鈥淗e told me he鈥檚 going to be in Salt Lake City (in 2034), he鈥檚 determined.鈥�
鈥淭hey (the athletes) are the only assets that we have and we ought to make sure that we provide everything we can to make them the star.鈥�
What the ISU now hopes to do is give fans and new viewers more clarity about scoring.
鈥淩ight now figure skating has become so technical and sophisticated that the average person cannot do the math on scores,” Kim said Friday at an online news conference.
Prize money raises
ISU aims to light arenas more theatrically for athletes and allowing use of official video and images for their social media. It also means more money.
This week ISU pledged to more than double its prize money fund for next season, to $11.1 million from $5.4 million. Member federations also will share a $2.1 million raise in help for travel costs.
Some money should go to consistent top-10 skaters who rarely make the podium, Kim said: 鈥淭hese are the athletes we want to start recognizing and reward.鈥�
Russia鈥檚 return?
ISU let Russian athletes try to qualify for and in Milan, though their exclusion from other championships is now in a fifth year during the full military invasion of Ukraine.
鈥淭hat discussion took a long time because there鈥檚 a lot of European perspective, which I understand,鈥� said Kim, who in 2022 became the ISU’s first non-European head after 130 years.
Russian skaters’ full return was not on the agenda in Tenerife though a freshly composed ISU council 鈥� including its new vice president for speed skating, Alexander Kibalko of Russia 鈥� will be 鈥渓ooking at the right time to make the decision,鈥� Kim said.
It hints at a guiding principle. 鈥淚 want to be able to look back at ISU 20 years from now and then I want to be able to say, 鈥楬ey, we did the right thing.鈥欌��
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