Kim Jae-yeol, President of the International Skating Union (ISU), runs unopposed and secures re-election! Retains IOC membership and Executive Committee status with term extending to 2030

*This content was translated by AI.

Kim Jae-yeol (58), who leads the International Skating Union (ISU), has successfully secured re-election and will continue his term until 2030.

According to the ISU and the Korean Skating Union, Kim Jae-yeol (Chairman) ran as the sole candidate at the 60th ISU Ordinary Congress held on the 12th (Korean time) in Tenerife, Spain, and succeeded in re-election. The term lasts four years, until 2030.

Previously, at the 2022 congress, Kim (Chairman) was elected as the first non-European leader in the 130th-year history of the ISU. Since then, he has been praised for leading bold innovations to adapt to changes in the media environment and expanding the base of skating sports under the banner of "ISU Vision 2030."

In fact, during his term, Kim (Chairman) focused on building a fan-centric viewing environment. In 2025, he introduced LED rink boards and digital kiss-and-cry zones at the World Figure Skating Championships in Boston and made groundbreaking improvements to TV broadcast graphics. These changes led to increased popularity, drawing as many as 127,000 spectators to the 2026 Prague World Figure Skating Championships. Additionally, during the 2026 Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics, video views on ISU social media channels grew 37 times compared to the 2022 Beijing Games, reaching 408 million views.

In terms of event operations, he launched the Short Track World Tour to boost commercial potential and held ISU events consecutively in non-traditional countries such as Thailand, Azerbaijan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Georgia, achieving market diversification.

Notably, reform measures centered on "athletes" have drawn attention. Kim (Chairman) decided to more than double the total prize money for athletes from the previous 5.4 million dollars (approximately 8.2 billion won) to 11 million dollars (approximately 16.7 billion won) starting from the 2026-2027 season.

The reform engine of Kim (Chairman), "ISU Vision 2030," is based on five pillars: Growth, Opportunity, Innovation, Safeguarding, and Unity. This was adopted at the 2024 Las Vegas Congress, and a revision to fully modernize the ISU's constitution and governance system for the first time in its 133-year history was also passed with the support of 92% of member countries.

With this re-election, Kim (Chairman) will retain his status as an IOC member (since 2023) and IOC Executive Committee member (since 2026). Since these positions are granted on the premise of serving as the president of an international federation, this re-election is expected to play a key role in maintaining and strengthening South Korea's international influence in sports diplomacy. Currently, Kim (Chairman) is also actively serving as a member of the Olympic Program Working Group for "Fit for the Future," a core reform project of the IOC.

Meanwhile, Lee Soo-kyung, President of the Korean Skating Union (KSU), who attended the congress, has maintained close exchanges with key figures in the international skating community and established a coordination system with Kim (Chairman). The Korean Skating Union plans to continue various activities to promote skating in South Korea based on cooperation with domestic and international institutional investors.

Among all presidents of international federations, Han Guk-in (Chairman) is the third person to achieve re-election or more, following the late Kim Woong-yong, former President of the World Taekwondo Federation (1973–2004), and Cho Jung-won, current President of the World Taekwondo Federation (2004–present).

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*This content was translated by AI.