Didier Gailhaguet
Appearance
Didier Gailhaguet (born 22 August 1953 in Béziers, France) is a former French figure skater and the president of the Fédération Française des Sports de Glace (French Ice Sports Federation).
National and international career as a figure skater
- Reached the winners’ podium of the French Championships on five occasions, winning the title in 1974 and 1975.
- Won a silver medal at what later became the World Junior Championships in Vienna, Austria, in 1968.
- Selected to take part in the European Figure-Skating Championships and World Figure-Skating Championships on five occasions. He represented France at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan, before severely injuring his knee prior to the 1976 Winter Olympics.
Coaching career
- Developed a Figure-Skating Centre at Champigny-sur-Marne and created the first winter sports department at INSEP [France’s National Institute of Sport and Physical Education], which trained French figure skaters including Surya Bonaly, five-time European champion and three-time world silver medallist, Éric Millot, Stanick Jeannette, both European medal winners, and many more
- In December 1992, became director of France’s figure-skating and ice-dancing national teams, and was closely involved in Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat’s 2002 Olympic title,
President of the FFSG
- Elected president of the Fédération Française des Sports de Glace [the French Ice-Sports Federation], a position he held until 2004
- In response to athletes’ demands, returned to the organisation in December 2008 and was elected President of the FFSG in the first round of voting
- On 26th June 2010, re-elected President of the FFSG, securing 92% of first-round votes
- An active president, his leadership was accompanied by numerous major figure-skating title wins, with Florent Amodio becoming European champion and, in ice dancing, Nathalie Péchalat and Fabian Bourzat twice becoming European champions and world bronze medalists. He played an active role in helping Brian Joubert, Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron to receive four European titles and two world titles (2007,2015). He also developed speed skating, both short track – in which Thibaut Fauconnet became France’s first European champion – and the men’s relays, with the French team winning the ISU World Junior Short Track Championships, as well as long track, with emerging star Alexis Contin winning European and, later, world medals (2015).
Results
Event | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winter Olympics | 13th | |||||
World Championships | 19th | 10th | 13th | 10th | 13th | |
European Championships | 19th | 10th | 8th | 7th | 9th | |
French Championships | 3rd | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | 1st |
References
- [1] Decision of ISU council
- Joy Goodwin, The Second Mark. ISBN 0-7432-4527-X.
- FFSG press release announcing Gailhaguet's re-election