Anton Sikharulidze has reached the presidency

The post of president of the Russian Figure Skating Federation (FFKR), which, after the death of the long-term head of the structure Alexander Gorshkov at the end of last year, was led by its general director Alexander Kogan for some time, was taken by one of the brightest domestic hotbeds Anton Sikharulidze. In the world of Russian figure skating, his appointment was met with optimism. And the sources of Kommersant pay attention primarily not to the political career of the former deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, but to the positive experience of working as president of the St. Petersburg Figure Skating Federation.

Russian Figure Skating Federation reported that its executive committee entrusted the “execution of the powers of the president of the FFKKR” to the vice-president of the structure Anton Sikharulidze. Since 2010, Alexander Gorshkov has held the presidency in it, under which the sport, which has the status of a de facto cult sport for the country, experienced another rise in terms of success in international competitions. Mr. Gorshkov died in November last year. After his death, the duties of the President were performed by the Director General of the FFKR Alexander Kogan. The Kommersant federation clarified that Mr. Kogan “decided to focus” on the functions of the general director. Anton Sikharulidze, in accordance with the charter of the FFKR, in order to become an absolutely full-fledged president, will need to be elected at the next reporting and election conference of the organization. It will take place in 2026. Mr. Sikharulidze has already made it clear that he is ready to “get involved” in the election process.

The fact that he has great chances to win them is evidenced by the reaction of representatives of Russian figure skating to the delegation of presidential powers to him.

She was extremely supportive. Famous coaches – Tatyana Tarasova, Elena Chaikovskaya, Alexander Zhulin, commenting on what happened, spoke to TASS about Mr. Sikharulidze as a “man of honor”, “independent” and “deeply understanding” his appearance.

The appointment of 46-year-old Anton Sikharulidze is a rather noticeable event, including because of the biography of the new president himself. He was one of the brightest skaters in the history of Russian pair skating. Speaking in tandem with Elena Berezhnaya at the turn of the past and present centuries, Mr. Sikharulidze won two world championships, and in 2022 won Olympic gold in Salt Lake City. True, it had to be shared with Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier, who, having lost to the Russian duet, received it following a high-profile scandal related to suspicions of pressure on judges and “manipulation” of the results of the competition.

After the end of his sports career, Anton Sikharulidze also made a political career. In the decade before last, he was elected to the State Duma of the Russian Federation from United Russia, and from 2008 to 2012 he was even the chairman of the committee on physical culture and sports.

However, the source of Kommersant, who is well acquainted with the nuances of the appointment of Anton Sikharulidze, draws attention not to this period of his life, but to a much more recent one.

At the end of 2021, Mr. Sikharulidze became the head of the St. Petersburg Figure Skating Federation, the largest figure skating center in Russia along with Moscow. This city is represented by such outstanding coaches as Tamara Moskvina and Alexei Mishin, as well as many famous athletes – Anastasia Mishina with Alexander Gallyamov, Alexandra Boykova with Dmitry Kozlovsky, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, Evgeny Semenenko, Mikhail Kolyada, Petr Gumennik. At the same time, according to the interlocutor of Kommersant, the activities of the federation itself “left much to be desired in all aspects.” Soon after the arrival of Anton Sikharulidze, she “drastically intensified” – “the quality of content on social networks improved, coverage of regional competitions and their composition”: “If earlier the leading St. Peter the Great, and even test skates gather a huge number of spectators.

Another Kommersant source noted that for a long time St. Petersburg was associated exclusively with pair and single skating. Now several coaches work in it at once, “effectively” developing ice dancing.

Alexey Dospekhov