Didier Gailhaguet
Didier Gailhaguet at the 2012 World Championships
Personal information
Born (1953-08-22) 22 August 1953
Béziers, France
Sport
Country France
Sportfigure skating

Didier Gailhaguet (born 22 August 1953) is a French former figure skater, coach and official. He served as the president of the Fédération française des sports de glace (FFSG) from 1998 to 2004 and again from 2007 to 2020. He was suspended each time because of related scandals. At the peak of his power, he was one of figure skating's most influential and controversial officials, dubbed the "little Napoleon."[1]

Skating and coaching

As a skater, Gailhaguet competed at the senior level for five seasons, performing at the World Championships in all five. He won the French national title twice, and represented France at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, where he placed thirteenth.

After retiring from competition, Gailhaguet became a coach. His most famous student was Surya Bonaly, whom he began coaching in 1984. He aggressively promoted Bonaly to the public, including creating a backstory that she had been born on Réunion and found abandoned on a beach, when in reality Bonaly was born in France and adopted at the age of eight months.[2][3]

Under his guidance, Bonaly became the ladies' World Junior Champion in 1991. On the senior level, she won the French national title four times consecutively, as well as two European titles. Bonaly left Gailhaguet's school at the conclusion of the 1991–1992 season, following the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville.[4][5]

Federation president and scandals

First taking the reins of the FFSG in 1998, Gailhaguet was a central figure in the 2002 Olympic Winter Games figure skating scandal, in which French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne said that she had judged wrongly in the pairs competition under pressure from Gailhaguet as part of an arrangement between the FFSG and the Russian skating federation related to the future ice dance competition. Witnesses of Le Gougne's statement were Sally-Anne Stapleford (Great Britain), Britta Lindgren (Sweden), Walburga Grimm (Germany), and Jon Jackson (USA). Gailhaguet's chauffeur in Salt Lake City also testified to having overheard evidence of his involvement in the scandal. Le Gougne later rescinded this statement, saying that she had been pressured to make it.[6]

Gailhaguet was excluded from any International Skating Union event for three years, beginning 30 April 2002. He has been excluded as an ISU council member.[6] He resigned as president of the FFSG on 12 May 2004 but was re-elected to that position after his suspension ended, in December 2007.

In February 2020, retired pair skater Sarah Abitbol accused Gailhaguet of having covered up her abuse allegations against one of his allies, longtime coach and FFSG official Gilles Beyer.[7][8] Although the statute of limitations precluded prosecution of Abitbol's allegations, several other former students of Beyer made similar claims. Concurrently, Gailhaguet was attempting to defend pair skater Morgan Ciprès, who was accused of having sent a picture of his penis to a 13-year-old girl at his training center in Florida.[9]

The scandal attracted nationwide news coverage and denunciations from prominent skaters, including Olympic ice dance champion Gwendal Peizerat. She said that Gailhaguet's control of FFSG affairs had previously meant that "to oppose him is to become persona non grata." Sports Minister Roxana Mărăcineanu insisted that Gailhaguet resign as FFSG president lest the organization otherwise be decertified. Initially defiant, he ultimately agreed to resign his post, and was succeeded by Nathalie Péchalat.[10][11]

Péchalat imposed new term limits on service as the federation president, a measure generally perceived as being aimed at preventing a third Gailhaguet tenure in the office. When she sought reelection in the summer of 2022, she was unexpectedly defeated by the largely unknown Gwenaëlle Noury, who was widely seen as being controlled by Gailhaguet. He denied any involvement.[12][13][14]

Results

Event 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975
Winter Olympics13th
World Championships19th10th13th10th13th
European Championships19th10th8th7th9th
French Championships3rd3rd2nd1st1st

References

  1. ↑ "French figure skating boss resigns over sex abuse scandal". Yahoo! News. 8 February 2020.
  2. ↑ "Surya Bonaly, Corps et lames: episode 5". Binge. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  3. ↑ Johnette Howard. "Over easy for Surya Bonaly the skating has never been the hard part". Vault. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  4. ↑ "Surya s'eclipse". L'Humanité (in French). 31 March 1992.
  5. ↑ Clarey, Christopher (17 December 1992). "California Training Helps Bonaly Bloom: French Skater Discovers U.S." The New York Times.
  6. 1 2 Clarey, Christopher (1 May 2002). "FIGURE SKATING; 2 French Officials Suspended 3 Years In Skating Scandal". The New York Times.
  7. ↑ "Patinage artistique : l'ancienne championne Sarah Abitbol affirme avoir été violée par son ancien entraîneur" [Figure skating: Former champion Sarah Abitbol states that she was raped by her former coach]. L'Equipe (in French). 29 January 2020.
  8. ↑ Collin, Jean-Christophe; Fleurot, Grégoire (28 January 2020). "La fin de l'omerta sur les violences sexuelles : la jeunesse volée des patineuses" [The end of the omerta surrounding sexual violence: The stolen youth of skaters]. L'Equipe (in French).
  9. ↑ Brennan, Christine (10 December 2019). "Olympic figure skater, coaches being investigated for sexual abuse allegations". USA Today.
  10. ↑ Gaubert, Julie (8 February 2020). "French skating chief Didier Gailhaguet resigns amid sexual assault scandal". Euronews.
  11. ↑ "Figure skating: Nathalie Pechalat becomes French ice sports boss after rivals pull out citing coronavirus". The Straits Times. 15 March 2020.
  12. ↑ "Nathalie Péchalat Battue, Gwenaëlle Noury Nouvelle Preésidente de la Fédération" [Nathalie Péchalat Beaten, Gwenaëlle Noury New President of the Federation]. Eurosport (in French). 25 June 2022.
  13. ↑ Burnier, Damien (20 June 2022). "Patinage : comment l'ex-président de la fédération, Didier Gailhaguet, est revenu en coulisses" [Skating: how the ex-president of the federation, Didier Gailhaguet, came back behind the scenes]. Le Journal du Dimanche (in French).
  14. ↑ "Sports de glace : la ministre des Sports a proposé une rencontre à la nouvelle présidente de la Fédération" [Ice sports: the Minister of Sports proposed a meeting with the new president of the Federation]. Le Parisien (in French). 26 June 2022.
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