The world and European ice dancing medallist has published a manifesto as she campaigns to become the next head of the worldwide governing body for figure skating and speed skating.

Founded in 1892, the ISU is the oldest winter Olympic International Federation and has had just 11 Presidents in its 130-year history.

Rahkamo is seeking to become the organisation’s first female leader after agreeing to stand against three other candidates in next month’s Presidential elections.

The 57-year-old, who is the vice-president of the Finnish Olympic Committee and former head of the Finnish Figure Skating Association, insists the ISU has a "great history" but wants to ensure that it will have a "bright future".

"I have been part of the skating family for 50 years," Rahkamo told insidethegames.

"My passion is skating and I have already been in many positions, looking at the sport from many sides and I just want to take it into the new era.

"I feel like we have a great history, but we are a little bit too traditional.

"In today’s world, sport is becoming very commercial and I feel like we are lagging behind a bit.

"I believe that it still an interesting and attractive sport in each of our disciplines in their own way and I think each of them has a possibility to be better.

"I feel like I can do a lot in different positions but as President it is the best possibility to change the direction.

"When I say change direction that might be a bit too strong as I don’t disagree with what has been done but I just feel that we are not changing rapidly enough.

"We are in a Swiss, conservative organisation.

"You can see that as a quality but at the same time the world is changing rapidly."

During her figure skating career, Rahkamo achieved two ice dancing medals at the European Championships, earning bronze in 1993 before striking gold in 1995.

Rahkamo also claimed two world ice dancing medals with bronze in 1994 and silver in 1995.

She served as President of the Finnish Figure Skating Association from 2005 to 2014 and has been vice-president of the Finnish Olympic Committee since 2013.

Her campaign to become ISU President is underpinned by four pillars including "values build the brand", "events and series bring the audience to the skaters", "new revenue sources ensure longevity" and "development supports innovation".

Rahkamo claims that each pillar is designed to make the ISU "more attractive and relevant for the myriad of audiences involved in the sports".

"We rely quite a bit on television rights, but TV is also in the middle of a big transformation so how much we can rely on that in the future is a really good question," said Rahkamo.

"I think we have to create more sources of revenue.

"I also think our events are quite long, so we have to be quicker and more attractive."

Rahkamo believes fans need to be able to follow skating in "more convenient and relevant ways" and claims that "demystifying the rules" and explaining the differences between athletes’ performances can help viewers understand the sport.

The Finnish official also stresses the importance of clearly differentiating the audience of each discipline to improve the sport’s brand.

She argues speed skating is for "daredevils", describing the short track discipline as an "extreme sport for tacticians who are young and wild".

"Each discipline attracts different audiences," said Rahkamo, who is a member of the ISU Development Commission.

"In figure skating I see that synchronised skating has got a lot of potential.

"It is not an Olympic sport but it brings a totally different energy than other disciplines.

"Speedskating is slightly different from short track.

"It is quick, tactical and really energic, like rock and roll whereas speed skating has got rhythm and is for those that like to analyse the speed and curves, like Formula One."

Rahkamo faces opposition from Patricia St Peter of the United States, South Korea’s Kim Jae-youl and Serbia’s Slobodan Delić for the top job at the ISU.

The next President of the ISU is due to be elected at the organisation’s Congress, set to be held in Phuket in Thailand from June 6 to 10.

Rahkamo's full manifesto can be read here.