"Then another election will be held in 2018 to start on an Olympic cycle.

"I will no longer be a candidate.

"I realised that I had now give way to others, but I will remain available to help."

Cinquanta had replaced Norwegian Olaf Poulsen as President after he retired following the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. 

Before taking on the top job, Cinquanta had been ISU vice-president and before that chairman of its Technical Committee for short track speed skating.

Cinquanta owes his position within the IOC, which he was elected to in 1996, as being head of an International Federation. 

Under Cinquanta the ISU has become much more successful commercially, increasing its number of televised events and introducing prize money for the top competitors.

International Skating Union President Ottavio Cinquanta found himself at the centre of worldwide attention during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City following a judging scandal

But the biggest legacy of his Presidency will the revolutionary new scoring system that was introduced in 2002, which he claimed meant scores were considerably less affected by subjectivity.

The system had been agreed before the controversial scandal that marred that year's Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City when Russians Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze beat Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier in the pairs competition, even though most critics believed that the latter had performed better.

A French judge, Marie-Reine Le Gougne, told the ISU she was under "a certain pressure" to vote for the Russians, leaving the Canadians with silver.

Le Gougne was banned for three years and Sale and Pelletier were upgraded to gold medallists, alongside Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze.

"We have improved many things," Cinquanta told AFP. 

"We increased the number of international events, the number of skaters.

"We have introduced a new judging system for figure skating, we have improved the financial situation, which is not bad considering the current international crisis.

"And we have more medals at the [Olympic] Games."

A new team skating event is to be introduced onto the Olympic programme for Sochi 2014

A new Olympic gold medal discipline is due to be introduced at Sochi 2014 when a team event will take place for the first time.

The competition is due to take place on February 6, the day before the Opening Ceremony.

"If it helps promote the Games, why not," said Cinquanta.

"There will be 10 teams competing. In the team event, even if you have talent, it is not enough to win.

"You must be at least two talents, to prevail in at least two categories and be good in others."

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