Dijkema leaves the presidency of the international skating association

SKATING – Jan Dijkema’s presidency at the ISU International Skating Union is over. Schipborg’s sporting director will be replaced after six years by Korean Jae-youl Kim.

Kim won the presidential election at the ISU congress in Phuket, Thailand. Dijkema (77) has been the boss of the world federation since June 2016. The native of Drent then succeeded Italian Ottavio Cinquanta, who had been its president for 22 years.

“There was a lot of pressure internationally to stick with it for another four years. They wanted to adjust the regulations around the age limit, especially for me. It’s nice to hear, because you apparently done well all these years.” , he tells the skating site. As a director, Dijkema has taken part in the Winter Olympics nine times and has lived close to many other world and continental tournaments.

In the elections in Thailand, there were four candidates to succeed Dijkema. Kim has already won the first round with 77 out of 119 votes, beating candidates from the United States, Finland and Serbia. “I am very surprised by your overwhelming support,” the first Asian ISU President said in his speech. “I want to be president of all countries, regardless of their size and region of origin. We are a family, together we can develop our sport.”

Kim, 53, was previously president of the Korea Skating Federation and a member of the organizing committee for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyongchang. He has been a member of the ISU board of directors since 2016. Kim is the twelfth president of the international federation.