Former speed skater Seiko Hashimoto, a bronze medalist at the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics, is most likely to become president of the scandal-plagued Japan Skating Federation whose executives are set to be reshuffled in July, skating sources said on Wednesday.
Hashimoto, 41, a member of the House of Councillors, would be the first Olympic medalist to head an Olympic event organization in Japan. Eight members of the JSF executive committee are set to resign at the end of this month over their alleged involvement in questionable business operations.
On Sunday, new executive committee members will be selected. Hashimoto confirmed that she has been asked to take the top JSF post commented on Wednesday, "I'll consider the offer carefully." The JSF admitted the handling of its operations for staging international figure skating meets was inappropriate and decided to have the eight leave their posts at an executive committee meeting held in April.
The eight executive committee members include acting president Mitsuzo Fujimori and Noriko Shirota, who is known for developing the talent of Olympic gold medalist Shizuka Arakawa in her junior years.