These Judges Will Decide the Championships

FEI has announced the judges for the Senior World Championships & the Junior European Championships. According to article 723 number 1.2 of the FEI vaulting rules organizers can choose the judges for “normal” international competitions by themselves but FEI has to appoint them for the championships. For continental championships (in 2016: juniors) 6 to 8 judges & for world championships (in 2016: seniors) 8 judges are required. They have to come from at least 6 countries & maximum 2 of one country are allowed.

In addition to that FEI announces a foreign judge who “acts on behalf of FEI”, a technical delegate who is responsible for the “technical & administrative arrangements”, a veterinary & a chief steward who takes care of the “organization of stewarding”, the stables & assists the organizers. FEI can choose from a list of officials. And they did so for 2016:

Technical Delegate: Anita Flamand-Prochaska from Austria

President of the ground  jury: Veronique Girard from France

Judges:

Austria: Doris Knotter

Germany: Helma Schwarzmann

Finland: Karolina Wickholm

Hungary: Benedek Máté Toth

Netherlands: Rob de Bruin

Poland: Elzbieta Dolinska

Slovakia: Pavla Krauspe

USA: Suzanne Detol

The alternate judge is from Switzerland: Anna Kull

So far so good. I was always satisfied with the decisions the judges made in the past, but when I look at the list, I have the feeling it could be from years ago. There aren’t many changes in the cast of the ground jury, mostly because there aren’t many new judges. So, vaulting people out there, take your courage in both hands & become international judges!