KYOTO, Japan -- Ottavio Cinquanta got exactly what he wanted out of the International Skating Union's congress.

Approval of his plan to eventually overhaul the judging system and scrap the traditional 6.0 mark.

Modest changes in the meantime to show figure skating is at least trying to clean up the mess created by the Salt Lake City scandal.

And a third term as president so he can continue to push his agenda along.

''I am very satisfied,'' Cinquanta said Friday after being re-elected unanimously by acclamation. ''In these five days, we've produced a lot. Regardless of the debates and the results, there is a new mentality.

''For the first time, I have noticed the spirit of reaction and the spirit of action.''

Cinquanta, who was unopposed, will serve another four-year term.

The United States retained a seat on the ISU's 11-member executive council, a spot it has held since World War II. Phyllis Howard, president of the U.S. Figure Skating Association, was elected to her first term on the council.

Claire Ferguson, the previous U.S. representative, didn't run for re-election.

Americans also won two other important positions. Four-time Olympian Andy Gabel was elected chair of the short-track speedskating technical commission, the body that governs the discipline.

''Hopefully, I can bring something to the sport,'' said Gabel, who also is president of U.S. Speedskating. ''I definitely want to focus on the growth of the sport. The publicity and exposure we had in Salt Lake City, we might never see that again. We absolutely have to hold onto that.''

Ron Pfenning easily won re-election to figure skating's technical committee. On the committee since 1994, Pfenning is better known now as the referee of the pairs panel in Salt Lake City -- the man who blew the whistle on French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne.

Another bit player in the Salt Lake City soap opera wasn't as fortunate. Sally Stapleford of Great Britain narrowly lost her bid for re-election as chair of figure skating's technical committee. She then announced her retirement.

''I want to get on with my life now,'' said Stapleford, who was accused by French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne of bullying her. ''Thank you for all of your support over the years.''

Le Gougne told ISU officials she'd been pressured ''to vote a certain way'' by Didier Gailhaguet, the French federation president. She later retracted the allegation and said Stapleford made up the story to blame Gailhaguet.

Stapleford has repeatedly denied the accusation. Le Gougne was suspended for three years by the ISU.

While skating has had other scandals, the brouhaha in Salt Lake City was beyond anything the sport had ever seen. The International Olympic Committee took the unprecedented move of awarding duplicate gold medals, and IOC president Jacques Rogge warned Cinquanta that the congress had better make changes.

The biggest came Monday, when Cinquanta persuaded delegates to approve his radical reform project. The plan would replace the 6.0 mark with a points system and use new computer technology to judge a skater's performance.

There also would be a random selection of judges to minimize back-room deals.

The system is still a work in progress, and more development is needed. Cinquanta said Friday he hopes to test it at a competition as early as September or October.

''The basics are ready,'' Cinquanta said. ''The program is almost ready.''

The congress will have to approve the project before it can be implemented for good, and most thought that meant another vote in two years. But Cinquanta said he would consider holding an extraordinary congress or asking delegates to vote by mail if the system is ready before 2004.

And Cinquanta said he's confident it will work.

''We have not even the minimum detail or indication that the system will not work,'' he said. ''The evidence that there is some obstacle is not there.''

In the meantime, the existing marking system was modified. The judging panel will be increased from nine to 14, and before each segment of a competition, a computer will pick nine judges whose scores will be used.

The expanded panel will be used beginning this season.

''We have worked very hard,'' Cinquanta told the congress. ''The most important thing is that there is a unity of this international federation. We are not in the best moment, but we have given evidence we are active, responsible and proactive.''