Ottavio Cinquanta is President of the International Skating Union and a member of the International Olympic Committee. He has held the ISU position since 1994 and the IOC position since 1996. Prior to becoming ISU President, he was one of the members of its Technical Committee for short track speed skating from its inception in 1975, and was elected Vice President for speed skating in 1992. The International Skating Union (ISU) is the international governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. ... Bold textralf is gay IOC redirects here. ... 500 metres short track heat at the 2004 World Cup in Saguenay Short track speed skating (also Shorttrack speedskating) is a form of competitive ice skating similar to speed skating. ...

Cinquanta grew up in Milan, Italy where he trained as a speed skater. His family was in modest circumstances. Cinquanta never attended university, but he was trained as an accountant. At the time of his election to the ISU presidency, at the age of 56, he retired from his position as a manager at Tusco Petrol, an Italian oil company. Milan (Italian: ; Lombard: Milán (listen)) is the main city of northern Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. ... Short track speed skaters racing through a curve. ... Accountant, or Qualified Accountant, or Professional Accountant, or Accountancy Practitioner, is an accountancy and financial experts legally certified in different jurisdictions to originally worked only in public practices, selling advice and services to other individuals and businesses, but today in addition many work within private corporations, financial industry and government...

When Cinquanta was first elected to the ISU Presidency, he was initially regarded as a progressive who introduced prize money at ISU events after negotiating a $22 million/year television contract with ABC Sports, which put the federation on much firmer ground with respect to competition from the unsanctioned professional skating competitions which had become popular in the wake of the attack on Nancy Kerrigan in 1994. The television money also allowed the ISU to fund a variety of developmental programs in both figure skating and speed skating, including, for example, the ISU Junior Grand Prix. [1] ABC Sports is a division of ABC, responsible for the televising of many sports events on the network. ... Nancy Kerrigan (born October 13, 1969 in Stoneham, Massachusetts) is a two-time Olympic figure skating medalist and 1993 U.S. champion. ... Figure skating is an ice skating sporting event where individuals, mixed couples, or groups perform spins, jumps, and other moves on the ice, often to music. ... Short track speed skaters racing through a curve. ... The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating is a series of international invitational junior level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. ...

However, because of his speed skating background, Cinquanta has been the subject of a considerable amount of criticism from the figure skating community, particularly in Canada and the United States. During the 2002 Olympic Winter Games figure skating scandal, he was criticized for his evasiveness and his admission that he didn't "know figure skating so well".[1] In spite of his professed lack of knowledge about the sport, he proposed a new scoring system for figure skating[2] whose major feature is secrecy which would prevent anyone from ever knowing how an individual judge had marked the competition. The implementation of secret judging at the 2003 World Figure Skating Championships in Washington, D.C., was controversial enough to result in a fan protest at that event[3], with Cinquanta personally being jeered by the audience whenever he was introduced.[4][5] Figure skating is an ice skating sporting event where individuals, mixed couples, or groups perform spins, jumps, and other moves on the ice, often to music. ... The Canadian and Russian flags rising together during the second medals ceremony. ... The ISU Judging System (also called Code of Points (CoP) or the New Judging System (NJS)), is the scoring system currently used to judge the figure skating disciplines of mens and ladies singles, pair skating, ice dancing, and synchronized skating. ... The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual event sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion. ... Nickname: DC, The District Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Location of Washington, D.C., in relation to the states Maryland and Virginia Coordinates: Federal District District of Columbia  - Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D)  - City Council Chairperson: Vincent C. Gray (D) Ward 1: Jim Graham (D) Ward 2: Jack Evans...

Cinquanta had previously been loudly booed by fans at the 1996 World Figure Skating Championships in Edmonton, Alberta, after he invoked a technicality to prevent local skating favorite Kurt Browning from skating in the opening ceremony of that event[6] [7] and again at the 1998 Championships in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[8] The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual event sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion. ... Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta, situated in the north central region of the province, an area with some of the most fertile farm land on the prairies. ... Browning skates during the 2000 Stars on Ice tour Kurt Browning (born June 18, 1966) is a prominent Canadian figure skater who was extremely popular during the late 1980s and 1990s. ... Nickname: City of Lakes Motto: En Avant Location in Hennepin County and the state of Minnesota. ...

In spite of his unpopularity among North American fans, Cinquanta has been re-elected to the ISU presidency without opposition multiple times.

References

• Sonia Bianchetti Garbato, Cracked Ice. ISBN 88-86753-72-1.
• Joy Goodwin, The Second Mark. ISBN 0-7432-4527-X.