Olympic Referees

[Agent_V]

The FIE has posted the list of Olympic referees on its website. I'm intrigued by the lack of any Chinese referees - all the more so because only Spain, France, and Italy have more licensed FIE refs. By contrast, it seems that the US had at least four of its own working the Atlanta '96 games: Russ Wilson, Greg Massialas, Gerrie Baumgart and Jeff Bukantz, not to mention Atilio Tass and Marcos Lucchetti - whom I don't think were US nationals at that point. Any trivia floating out there that may shed light?

Alexander

[KD5MDK]

At the time, weren't they all (except maybe Jeff) A rated referees? Now we don't have any that I know of.

[AndrewH]

Doug Findlay is the only American referee going, and according to foc.askfred he's an FIE B in foil. I'm guessing that's out of date? Or would a B be sufficient to work the Olympics?

(Not putting him down in any way... he's a great ref, at least from the one sabre bout I had him as a ref)

[noodle]

i'd figure that there are a lot of french/spanish/italian FIE refs because they're all there near the action. they probably don't have to travel far or expend a lot of money to get certified.

not quite the same for the US, or likely also for china.

[oiuyt]

Having a B is sufficient (or, rather, 2 of them).

-B

[downunder]

China will provide 8 (or is it 6?) referees. These are just the referees the FIE are sending.

[HDG]

The list must've been updated; there are Chinese refs on there now.

[Phrogger]

Here's the direct link to the PDF if anyone wants to look.

[edew]

There are also fewer bouts now than in Atlanta. The Olympics no longer have pools and then DEs. Just straight DEs, so really, you can get by with 6 referees per event (four at any one time and two to sub in while others take a break). Of course, they have more so that conflicts can be minimized.

[DJ Apostrophe]

There are also fewer bouts now than in Atlanta. The Olympics no longer have pools and then DEs. Just straight DEs, so really, you can get by with 6 referees per event (four at any one time and two to sub in while others take a break). Of course, they have more so that conflicts can be minimized.

Except you need replay officials now too, so you need a minimum of 8 at a time... 12 for the team events usually (2 strip referees and one video referee).

-w

[fencerbill]

All the Americans on all of the commissions and not one on the list. The Directoire Technique seems to be distributed by continent.

Lots of diligent Roch supporters, not too surprising.

I recognize some of the younger referee names, just from going to Vets Worlds.

[brtech]

Minor thread drift, but Dan DeChaine is also not going. Instead, a Roche supporter who is not an armorer is going as a SEMI rep from the zone. Dan is pretty unhappy about that, but is neither a Roche nor a Dos Santos toady. The SEMI is nearly all non-armorers now.

Imagine what it would be like if the FOC was not a qualified referee. That is what SEMI is like now.

[edew]

The US rep for weapons control was chosen not so much by Roche himself, though, I understand.

[brtech]

There is no US rep in weapons control.

Generally, equipment control for the event is the organizer's responsibility. The Chinese are doing it themselves, and not very well, I understand.

The U.S. Cadre includes an armorer to assist the U.S. team. Ron Herman is the armorer.

There are SEMI reps who monitor weapons control and application of the rules. I'm not sure of the exact rules, but there is one SEMI rep from our zone, and its not Dan. That is a Dos Santos decision I think, but I'm not sure.

[Mr.MightyMouse]

Here's the direct link to the PDF if anyone wants to look.

Thanx - that is one debacle of the list.
If nuttn' else it might push Messr. Roch under a proverbial express to nowhere.
Messr. DeChaine not attending is just a disgrace.

[fencerbill]

There is no US rep in weapons control.

Generally, equipment control for the event is the organizer's responsibility. The Chinese are doing it themselves, and not very well, I understand.

The U.S. Cadre includes an armorer to assist the U.S. team. Ron Herman is the armorer.

There are SEMI reps who monitor weapons control and application of the rules. I'm not sure of the exact rules, but there is one SEMI rep from our zone, and its not Dan. That is a Dos Santos decision I think, but I'm not sure.

The gossip that I heard is that the rep from our zone picked SEMI because there hadn't been a woman on SEMI before, although I understand she has an engineering background. She is popular enough with the FIE to have been the FIE delegate (in charge of the whole tournament) at the 2005 Vets Worlds in Tampa.

[fencerbill]

Thanx - that is one debacle of the list.
If nuttn' else it might push Messr. Roch under a proverbial express to nowhere.
Messr. DeChaine not attending is just a disgrace.

You are being a little excessive. Dan is good but there are others. Ted Li has been involved in other championships because, as in Australia both for the Olympics and the 2007 Vets Worlds, they appreciated and welcomed his expertise. The Chinese have been doing World Cups, etc. for a while. I am sure they will have accumulated enough experience to do the job right. Perhaps Dan will send them copies of his reject cards, that will be a big boost.

I believe the Julius Kralik on DT was a SEMI rep at the 2000 Junior/Cadets Worlds in South Bend in 2000. If one doesn't work, try another.

[Mr.MightyMouse]

You are being a little excessive. Dan is good but there are others. Ted Li has been involved in other championships because, as in Australia both for the Olympics and the 2007 Vets Worlds, they appreciated and welcomed his expertise. The Chinese have been doing World Cups, etc. for a while. I am sure they will have accumulated enough experience to do the job right. Perhaps Dan will send them copies of his reject cards, that will be a big boost.

I believe the Julius Kralik on DT was a SEMI rep at the 2000 Junior/Cadets Worlds in South Bend in 2000. If one doesn't work, try another.

IMHO Dan deserves it just for being Dan, a la Lifetime Achievement Oscar

[oso97]

The gossip that I heard is that the rep from our zone picked SEMI because there hadn't been a woman on SEMI before, although I understand she has an engineering background. She is popular enough with the FIE to have been the FIE delegate (in charge of the whole tournament) at the 2005 Vets Worlds in Tampa.

From the general scuttlebutt I've picked up the woman to whom you are referring is a well known Roach supporter and owes her position more to that than general qualifications...

[fencerbill]

From the general scuttlebutt I've picked up the woman to whom you are referring is a well known Roach supporter and owes her position more to that than general qualifications...

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

I will say, I thought that she did a good job in Tampa in 2005.