Nathalie Péchalat, candidate for the presidency of the Federation of ice sports (FFSG), presented on Saturday in Montrouge her project and her team, composed in particular of the multiple world champions of figure skating Gabriella Papadakis and Guillame Cizeron. “In my team, there are people from different backgrounds. There are judges, club presidents, active athletes, the most emblematic Papadakis / Cizeron, retraining athletes, not just skating, but all ice sports, "said the former ice dancer , Saturday in the southern suburbs of Paris.
»READ ALSO - Didier Gailhaguet, the“ Machiavelli ”of skating
Ice dancers Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, quadruple world champions and Olympic vice-champions in 2018, represent the showcase of tricolor figure skating. Nathalie Péchalat, the first candidate to declare herself for the March 14 poll, unveiled a program in four areas: sports and performance at all levels and in all ice sports, sports ethics and integrity with a focus on the fight against violence in the sports environment, improving the image of the federation, and restructuring the federation.
"Breaking the gap"
She wants to set up an operations manager from an outside sports environment in ice sports to "break the gap", and proposed to Stéphanie Bouvier, former short track skater, to become its vice-president. The intervention of the former skater sounds like a response to the press release published Thursday by fourteen athletes, who had criticized the first candidate to be declared for the ballot of March 14, accusing her of "presenting themselves individually" .
Invited two weeks ago to a meeting of this collective made up of several stars of French skating like Gwendal Peizerat, Philippe Candeloro or Sarah Abitbol, Nathalie Péchalat claims to have quickly told them that she did not share their point of view. Consequently, she invited them to submit a nomination. "It seems logical to me to present a different point of view". The deadline for applications is February 28.
Le Gougne, Boyer-Gibaud and Godefroy facing her
Three other candidates have so far launched: former skating judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne, whose role is controversial during the Olympics scandal-2002, Angers president Damien Boyer-Gibaud and former vice -FFSG president, Hubert Godefroy. The omnipresent president Didier Gailhaguet, who reigned over the Federation for two decades, resigned from his post on February 8, under pressure from the Minister of Sports Roxana Maracineanu following revelations of sexual assaults in skating, including in a book by Sarah Abitbol published at the end of January.
Read also
- Sexual violence: The FFS "supports" two former skiers who are victims of assault