Helsinki / Finland

Today John Coughlin from the United States of America was elected to the ISU Athletes Commission as the Single & Pair Skating representative and Alper Uçar from Turkey was elected to the ISU Athletes Commission as the Ice Dance representative. Further to the decision of the 56th ISU Ordinary Congress 2016 in Dubrovnik (CRO) to introduce an ISU Athletes Commission, the election of the Single & Pair Skating and Ice Dance Athletes took place during the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Helsinki (FIN). Coughlin and Uçar were elected by athletes competing at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships. They join the Synchronized Skating Representative Nathalie Lindqvist (SWE), the Speed Skating Representative Luiza Zlotkowska (POL), and the Short Track Speed Skating Representative Viktor Knoch (HUN) on the Athletes Commission.

The ISU President Jan Dijkema commented “I am pleased that the Athletes Commission is now complete following the elections at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships for the Single and Pairs and Ice Dance representatives. It is important for us to include the athletes’ point of view in the decision making process of the ISU and the ISU Council looks forward to working with all the athlete representatives in the coming months.”

The ISU Athletes Commission, as of today, is composed of:

- Single & Pair Skating Athlete: John Coughlin (USA)
- Ice Dance Athlete: Alper Uçar (TUR)
- Short Track Speed Skating Athlete: Viktor Knoch (HUN)
- Speed Skating Athlete: Luiza Zlotkowska (POL)
- Synchronized Skating Athlete: Nathalie Lindqvist (SWE) 

About the ISU Athletes Commission

The mission of the ISU Athletes’ Commission is to represent the views of the athletes and make their voice heard within the ISU. The ISU Athletes Commission members are elected by secret ballot. All accredited Skaters at the respective ISU World Championships shall be entitled to cast one vote. The candidate with the highest number of votes obtained is elected. In case of a tie, new ballots will be distributed to all Skaters for a second round of election. The candidate with the highest number of votes obtained in the second ballot is elected. Provided that the Athletes Commission members are not actively competing, the elected Skaters will also be full members of the respective Technical Committee with a right to vote.

For full details please refer to the ISU Constitution, Articles 21 and 36, as well as ISU Communication No. 2043.