He was elected as an IOC member in 1996. Two years before, in 1994, he was elected President of the International Skating Union (ISU), a position he held until 2016, when his IOC membership also ended. The same year, the IOC Session elected him as an IOC Honorary Member and the ISU Congress acclaimed him as ISU Honorary President.

The IOC Session also recognised Mr Cinquanta’s outstanding services and distinguished contributions to the Olympic Movement by awarding him the Olympic Order, its highest distinction.

IOC President Thomas Bach said:

Ottavio Cinquanta led the ISU with great dedication and deep knowledge about all aspects of all the disciplines of his Federation. This made him a highly respected leader, not only within the ISU but also among all the Winter Sports Federations. To me, he was an always reliable friend, whose advice was always honest. Sometimes, Ottavio was also thinking outside the box, which gave rise to interesting but always amicable discussions.

With 22 years at the helm of the ISU, Mr Cinquanta was the second-longest-serving ISU President, and was responsible for several innovations during his presidency. These included the introduction of short track into the Olympic programme, the creation of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating in 1995 and the reform of the figure skating scoring system in 2004.

A speed skater in his youth, when he practised ice hockey and athletics too, Mr Cinquanta was also a referee at international competitions, World Championships and Olympic Winter Games. A background in business administration led him to occupy management positions in the finance and chemical industries throughout his professional career.

Additionally, he served in various official functions at the Italian Ice Sports Federation and the ISU, in the sections for Short Track and Speed Skating. Within the Italian Federation, he was Chairman of the Technical Committee (1973-1980) and then Vice-President (1984-1988).

Upon becoming a member of the ISU in 1975, he also joined its Short Track Technical Committee, which he chaired from 1984 to 1992. In this position, he was instrumental in the development of the discipline and key to its inclusion in the Olympic programme. Short track speed skating featured as a demonstration sport at the Olympic Winter Games Calgary 1988, and was then included in the official programme at Albertville 1992. In 1992, he was elected as Vice-President of the ISU, and became its President two years later.

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