Jae Youl Kim, President of the International Skating Union -ISU-, has been elected President of the Winter Olympic Federations -WOF-, succeeding Ivo Ferriani at a meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland. The appointment, announced by the ISU on Monday, adds a collective responsibility to the South Korean official’s existing roles: he has served on the International Olympic Committee -IOC- Executive Board since February and was re-elected to lead international skating in June. His new role involves coordinating federations with different needs but shared interests in the organisation and future of the Winter Games.
Kim’s involvement in that collective representation predates his election: WOF nominated him for the IOC Executive Board, which he joined on February 4 during the Session in Milan. The ISU Congress in Tenerife, Spain, subsequently confirmed him by acclamation for a second four-year term. He now takes over the association’s presidency with a commitment to closer collaboration among its members. “I look forward to collaborating with all stakeholders for our mutual benefit,” he said.
What WOF coordinates
WOF brings together the international federations governing biathlon, bobsleigh and skeleton, ice hockey, luge, skating, skiing and snowboard, and curling. Its role is to articulate shared positions and needs, while each federation retains responsibility for its disciplines. The agenda of its June 2025 General Assembly illustrates that function: it covered Olympic quotas, revenue sharing, services for future Games, anti-doping and athlete safeguarding. It also brought together representatives of the organising committees for Milano Cortina 2026, French Alps 2030 and Salt Lake City-Utah 2034.
That coordination can help bring shared concerns to the IOC and organisers, although its effects will vary across sports. An ice rink, a ski resort and a sliding track have different requirements, but all involve planning for venues, training, transport and competition. The association provides a forum for developing joint proposals and understanding decisions that affect several federations. Kim’s presence on the IOC Executive Board may facilitate that dialogue, although the new presidency does not in itself give him additional authority over quotas, revenue or the Olympic programme.
Three roles with different responsibilities
Kim brings experience in both federation leadership and Games organisation: he was involved in the PyeongChang 2018 bid and served as Executive Vice-President of its organising committee. At the ISU, he has developed the Vision 2030 strategy, introducing changes to governance, competition formats, athlete support and audience engagement. That knowledge may help connect federations’ technical needs with organisers’ operational requirements. However, skating’s modernisation initiatives belong to the ISU; they are not an announced programme for WOF as a whole.
Combining the three roles requires a distinction between their respective responsibilities. As ISU President, Kim leads one federation; at WOF, he must bring together the interests of several organisations; and on the IOC Executive Board, he participates in matters affecting the entire Olympic Movement. The close connection between those levels may facilitate dialogue, but collective representation requires priorities that will not always align with those of skating. Differences in resources also matter: WOF’s 2025 governance review identified federations with average annual revenues of between four and eight million Swiss francs, alongside others exceeding 50 million. Sharing expertise may be particularly useful for organisations with smaller teams.
A shared position on the Winter Games
WOF has already used its collective representation to contribute to the debate over the Olympic programme. In November 2025, its federations opposed piecemeal proposals to introduce disciplines governed by summer sports federations into the Winter Games, arguing that they would dilute the identity of a competition rooted in snow and ice. At the same time, they supported modernisation and cited the inclusion of ski mountaineering as an example of evolution within that sporting environment. Kim therefore succeeds Ferriani at an organisation that, alongside coordinating operational matters, has defended a shared position on which sports should feature at the Games.
Cooperation also extends to institutional assessment. The fifth governance review, commissioned by WOF and published in February 2025, assessed its seven full members through self-evaluations subject to independent moderation. The study examined transparency, integrity, democracy, development and sustainability, and control mechanisms. All seven federations were implementing athlete safeguarding policies and procedures; six published their latest financial accounts, and five had term limits for elected officials. On female representation, six had women occupying at least 25% of their Executive Board positions, although none reached 40%.
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