A new week for the world of Russian figure skating began with personnel changes. The Executive Committee of the FFKKR entrusted the execution of the powers of the president of the organization to Anton Sikharulidze. Since 2010, this position has been held by Alexander Gorshkov, but the 76-year-old specialist died in November from a heart attack and an emergency decision was required, so CEO Alexander Kogan was entrusted with combining posts. Now, as explained in the federation, he wants to concentrate on his former duties.
"Since this is a rather complicated job, and according to the charter, it is impossible to hold a reporting and election conference to elect a president now, the executive committee entrusted the execution of the powers of the president of the FFKKR to Anton Sikharulidze. Everyone voted for him unanimously," explained Olga Ermolina, press attaché of the FFKKR, in an interview with Metaratings.
At the same time, Kogan's work is evaluated by experts only on the positive side. According to coach Tatyana Tarasova, he has a lot to do with it.
"This person can answer all the questions that you ask him," Tarasova was quoted as saying by Sport-Express.
The reporting and election conference of the FFKKR will be held in 2026, so the responsibility for preparing the national team for the Olympics in Milan will fall on Sikharulidze. And also it is he, first of all, who will have to seek from the international federation the admission of Russians to the starts. The Olympic champion of Salt Lake City in pair skating understands this.
"Dialogue with the ISU will be important for us. I know that many representatives of the organization say that it is time for Russian athletes to participate, without them it is a completely different competition. Therefore, we will do our best to promote and achieve this, it is very important for us. Moreover, there are precedents - fencing, chess, triathlon, wrestling, tennis, "TASS quoted Sikharulidze as saying.
At the same time, the acting President of the FFKKR is not afraid of the change of sports citizenship by domestic figure skaters. And he sees the main task within the country as maintaining a balance between specialists and athletes at the highest level, which his predecessor managed.
"Figure skating, and sports in general, is a team of bright people who want to win no matter what. Therefore, each group of coaches pursues its own interests. Here you need to reasonably see the balance of interests and understand that the strongest should win the competition, but the conditions for training should be equal for everyone, especially for leading athletes and coaching teams. Alexander Georgievich confidently balanced in this regard, and it will be important for me to be in the middle of our athletes and think only about how to help their training," Sikharulidze said.
He also promises to pay great attention to men's single skating and ice dancing, where the Russians are not currently in a leading position. In particular, the federation has already appealed to Alexander Zhulin, to whom Alexandra Stepanova with Ivan Bukin and Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva with Yegor Bazin recently passed, with a proposal to help in the training of athletes.
"I hope that over time we will be as competitive as possible with the leading dance duets," Sikharulidze concluded.
The candidacy of the Olympic champion for the presidency of the FFKKR looks quite logical if you look at his biography. At the end of his sports career, he went into politics: in 2006 he became a member of the United Russia party, and in 2007 he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg.
From 2008 to 2012, Sikharulidze even headed the Committee on Physical Culture and Sports in the State Duma. And this means that he, at least, knows how to competently communicate with Russian officials. In addition, the skater has been successful in business in recent years. In 2017, he officially became a co-owner of Gazenergoservice, a major construction contractor for Gazprom.
Recently, he has paid great attention to sports. At the end of 2021, the Olympic champion took the helm of the St. Petersburg Figure Skating Federation, and according to experts, the work of the organization has improved markedly. Major tournaments are constantly held in the Northern capital. And the full stands of the "Jubilee" collect even test rentals. Last season, the city hosted the Russian Jumping Championship and the final of the Grand Prix of the country.
Honored coach of the USSR Tamara Moskvina, who is based in St. Petersburg and brought up the strongest domestic couples, noted the activity of Sikharulidze in her post.
"It takes a long time to list his strengths as an athlete, but I would separately note his concern for the development of the sport not only in the country, but also abroad, raising the prestige of Russian figure skaters in the international arena. Everyone remembers him as a figure skater, but the knowledge that he acquired as a statesman - in the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg, in the State Duma, as a businessman, he will unite in his new position, "the specialist said.
According to Alexander Zhulin, the appointment of Sikharulidze is an attempt by the FFKKR to bring a new stream to the work of the organization.
"I am very positive about the appointment of Anton. He is my close friend and a huge professional. I know one hundred percent that he stands up for figure skating, he is an ambitious person and will help all coaches very much both in word and deed. I'm very happy about it! I don't want to talk about a person with whom I am also friends, that he is of age, but it seems to me that Alexander Ilyich Kogan, perhaps, even sees more prospects in Anton. Sometimes you need fresh blood," Zhulin explained.
Three-time Olympic champion Irina Rodnina also noted that Sikharulidze has enough experience to work in a new position. But, in her opinion, these personnel changes are not enough.
"We need to look at the presidium, we have a non-working presidium. If it stays until 2026, I can say it's a disaster. There are people in the presidium during which I managed to win three Olympics and ten world championships in the federation, managed to work as a coach abroad for ten years, and managed to be elected to the State Duma for the fourth time. My children have already grown up, my grandchildren are growing up, and they are all there - in the presidium.
Experience is important, so we don't have young people. And then they say that there is no one to put. But it is necessary to somehow combine experience, youth and aspiration. And this new aspiration is our future cadres not only in domestic sports policy, but also, most importantly, in international politics, "Match TV quotes Rodnina.
Well, maybe it is the 46-year-old Sikharulidze who will become the link that will unite experience and youth. He has enough time for this - as much as three years.