2019/2020 Officials (Judges, Referees, Controllers and Specialists) | Golden Skate

2019/2020 Officials (Judges, Referees, Controllers and Specialists)

Andrea82

Medalist
Joined
Feb 16, 2014
ISU published today the list of Officials eligible to serve in International competitions for 2019/20 season.

The full list is here:
https://www.isu.org/figure-skating/rules/fsk-communications/21860-isu-communication-2273/file

There are two different levels of officials: ISU and International.
These qualifications determine the type of events they can judge. ISU is "higher ranked" than International.

Olympic Games, ISU Championships (World, Junior World, Europeans, 4 Continents) and GP Final (both Senior and Junior), World Team Trophy: everyone should have ISU status

Senior GP events: Technical Controller and Specialists, Referee and Data Operator must have ISU status while Judges can have only International level

Junior GP events: International status allowed for Judges and Referee; Technical Controllers/Specialists and Data Operator must have ISU status

Other International competitions: International status is enough for all roles. In Challenger Series the Technical Panel should have 2 members with ISU status.


Changes compared to last season
(I may have missed something in that lenghty list!)


Judges Pairs and Singles


New International Judges

Karen Anne Harris (Australia)
Tobias Steindl (Austria)
Antony Grevisse (Belgium)
Yana Vankova (Bulgaria)
Ron Conacher (Canada)
Guylaine Seguin (Canada)
Sabrina Eunice Wong (Canada)
Rui Sui (China)
Kim Louise Ettrup (Denmark)
Stéphane Maitrot (France)
Melanie Prague (France)
Yulia Levshunova (Georgia)
Christiane Anstätt (Germany)
Oliver Bennemann (Germany)
Martin Liebers (Germany)
Christiane Wald (Germany)
Virginia De Agostini (Italy)
Sho Kagayama (Japan)
Ryuko Niremoto (Japan)
Jerry Hilgert (Luxembourg)
Ismail Surayu Dakshini (Malaysia)
Ji Young Han (South Korea)
Yoon Kyung Lee (South Korea)
Daniel Perzi (Spain)
Alexandrea Reataza-Svärd (Sweden)
Isabella Anna Enrica Mariotta Crivelli (Switzerland)
Rada Lamsam (Thailand)
Sarihan Itir Ozinanir (Turkey)
Ekin Pasinlioglu (Turkey)
Oksana Dolhopolova (Ukraine)
Dawn Everly (USA)
Steven Hsu (USA)
Karen Perreault (USA)

Demoted from ISU to International status
Valerie Greugny-Huart (France)
Natalia Primachenko (Russia)

Retired/out of the list

Susan Blatz (Canada)
Jean Senft (Canada)
Pirjio Elo (Finland)
Jan Hoffman (Germany)
Herman Schulz (Germany)
Kristin Helga Hafthorsdottir (Iceland)
Kenji Amako (Japan)
Tomiko Yamada (Japan)
Akira Yoshizawa (Japan)
Anna Dubova (Latvia)
Marit Kvindesland (Norway)
Hanna Then (Poland)
Florin Gafencu (Romania)
Igor Obraztsov (Russia)
Alexei Soutchkov (Russia) * He is still eligible for Ice Dance
Liudmila Volkova (Russia)
Natasa Danon (Serbia)
Steve Winkler (USA)
Tamie Campbell (USA)
Taffy Holliday (USA)
Anne Shean (USA)
Elena Onishchenko (Ukraine)

Judges Ice Dance

New International Judges

Gabriele Streil (Austria)
Bing Han (China)
Marketa Horklova (Czech Republic)
Jitka Mokra (Czech Republic)
Clement Perrigouard (France)
An So Young (South Korea)
Elyse Matsumoto (USA)
Danielle Rey (USA)

Yulia Levshunova switches from Belarus to Georgia.

Retired
Jean Senft (Canada)
Susan Blatz (Canada)
Kenji Amato (Japan)

Technical Controllers

Steve Winkler (USA) retired.
Raffaella Locatelli (Italy) is out of the list of those eligible for Pairs.


Technical Specialists Single

Promoted to ISU status

Nilda Nancy Garcia Villarreal (Mexico) * she was demoted last season. I guess lack of seminar attendance or service. She must have fullfilled it now
Jason Dungjen (USa) * same as above


Retired/out of the list
Maria McLean (Denmark)
Karin Hendschke-Raddatz (Germany)
Tony Sabrina Bombardieri (Italy)
Tomas Kunya (Slovakia)

Technical Specialist Pairs


Retired
Cafrolin Mesiter Goschy (Germany)
Scott Cudmore (USA)

Technical Specialists Ice Dance


Retired

Shae Zukiwsky (Canada)


Referees

Promoted to ISU level

Single/Pairs

Cynthia Benson (Canada)
Karen Howard (Canada)
Leanna Caron (Canada)
Mami Maeda (Japan)
Agita Abele (Latvia)
Julia Andreeva (Russia)
Asa Nordback (Sweden)
Senem Ahiskal (Turkey)
Samuel Auxier (USA)
Wendy Enzmann (USA)

Ice Dance
Csaba Balint (Hungary)
Lolita Labunskaya (Russia)

New International

Single/Pairs

Nicole Leblanc Richard (Canada)
Jia Yao (China)
Christian Baumann (Germany)
Jung Sue Lee (South Korea)
Alla Shekhovtsova (Russia)
Elena Fomina (Russia)
Emilie Billow (Sweden)
Todd Bromley (USA)

Ice Dance

Virpi Kunnas-Helminen (Finland)
Massimo Orlandini (Italy)
Kaoru Takino (Japan)
John Miller (USA)


The exams for promotion from International to ISU judges status will take place during Nebelhorn Trophy.

The draw (by country) for 2019 World, European and 4 Continents Championships will take place on the morning of Thursday October 10, 2019 in Geneva.
In each event, countries with skaters entered in the 2018 edition will be drawn first. If they are not enough, a second draw will take place among other countries. For Europeans, Euro ISU members will have precedence. For 4CCS, members from America, Asia, Africa and Oceania will be considered in the second draw. If they are not enough, they open up the draw to European countries for 4CCs and not European countries for Euros. This last step is usually necessary only for Ice Dance at 4Continents.
 
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Andrea82

Medalist
Joined
Feb 16, 2014
Draw for 2020 ISU Championships judging panels.

Montreal World Championships

Men: Australia, Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, South Korea, Russia, Sweden; Switzerland, Ukraine, USA

Ladies: Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark; France, Hong Kong, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, Slovakia, Slovania, Spain, Sweden, USA

Pair: Austria, Canada, China, Croatia; Czech Republic, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Latvia, Russia; Spain, USA

Dance: Canada, China, Finland, France, Great Britain, Japan, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, USA

Graz European Championships

Men: Bulgaria, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine

Ladies: Azerbajan, France, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine

Pair: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Spain, Switzerland

Ice Dance: Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy,Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine

Seoul Four Continents

Men: Australia, Canada, China, Taipei, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mexico, South Korea, USA
Alternates (in order): Hong Kong, Great Britain, Italy, Slovenia

Ladies: Australia, China, Taipei, Hong Kong, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mexico, South Korea, USA
Alternates: Canada, Austria, Slovenia, Lithuania

Pair: Australia, Canada, China, Taipei, Japan, South Korea, South Africa, USA, Uzbekistan
Alternates: Latvia, Croatia, Russia, Sweden

Ice Dance: Australia, Austria, Canada, China; Estonia, Georgia, Great Britain, Japan, USA
Alternates: Czech Republic, Italy, France, Turkey

Tallinn Junior Worlds

Men: Azerbajan, Belarus, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey

Ladies: Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Japan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey

Pair: Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine, USA

Ice Dance: Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Spain

Source: https://www.isu.org/figure-skating/rules/fsk-communications/22396-isu-communication-2288/file
 

Anni234

Ina Bauer
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 29, 2015
Country
Estonia
Glad so see Estonian judges here and there, I've somehow always had the impression that we don't have too many high level judges.

Tallin Junior Worlds

It's actually "Tallinn", Tallin comes from Russian, where they don't add the second n, but the correct Estonian and international option is with two n's. ;)
 
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Andrea82

Medalist
Joined
Feb 16, 2014
Glad so see Estonian judges here and there, I've somehow always had the impression that we don't have too many high level judges.



It's actually "Tallinn", Tallin comes from Russian, where they don't add the second n, but the correct Estonian and international option is with tho n's. ;)


Estonia have
3 ISU judges for Single and Pair: Mrs Zanna Kulik (who is also a ISU level Referee), Mr Nikolai Salnikov, Mrs Kadi Zvirik (who is also an International level Referee).
2 International judges (International judges can serve up to GP level but not in ISU Championships or GP Final) for Single/Pair: Mrs Jelena Galimova and Mrs Oksana Vuorela.
2 International judges for Ice Dance: Mrs Ere Lusti, Mrs Larissa Shuljateva. But Estonia was drawn for ID at Euros. So one of them must have promoted. Exams for promotion were held during Nebelhorn Trophy and the list has not been updated yet.

Thanks for Tallinn correction.
 

Dreamer57

Record Breaker
Joined
May 20, 2018
There are no CAN, CHN or JPN judges for either singles discipline at senior worlds.
Are the technical controllers and referees randomly drawn too?
 

Andrea82

Medalist
Joined
Feb 16, 2014
Are the technical controllers and referees randomly drawn too?

Referees and technical panel at ISU Championships are directly chosen by ISU

Article 16 of ISU General Regulations says

The President decides upon the appointments of the Referees, the Technical Controllers, Technical Specialists, Data & Replay Operators, members of the Officials Assessment Commission (OAC) in Figure Skating .... for the Olympic Winter Games, the Winter Youth Olympic Games, ISU Championships, the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating events and Final (junior and senior), .........and any new ISU Event introduced by the Council taking into consideration proposals from the respective Vice Presidents.
The respective Vice Presidents prepare the proposals in consultation with the respective Sports Directors and the respective Technical Committee. The appointments shall be communicated to the ISU Members of the Officials and the organizing ISU Members as soon as possible but latest by August 15 every season.
 

Andrea82

Medalist
Joined
Feb 16, 2014
From latest ISU Council meeting:

The Council established a Working Group to consider improvements for the judging of Program Components. The Working Group consists of Paolo Pizzocari (ITA), Leanna Caron (CAN), Alla Shekhovtsova (RUS) and Karen Wolanchuk (USA).
 

Andrea82

Medalist
Joined
Feb 16, 2014
Estonian judge Nikolai Salnikov suspended for 2 years

He showed up totally drunk at the initial judge meeting of Egna Junior GP men event. He fell asleep during the meeting. At the end meeting he couldn't get up.
On Friday night (SP for on Thursday and FS on Saturday) he drunk so much that the rink restaurant owner had to call the organization committee

https://www.isu.org/figure-skating/rules/fsk-communications/23246-case-2019-05-isu-vs-salnikov/file

I am surprised that they let him judge in Egna. They didn't need him to complete the panel because they had enough judges on site.
Maybe there is no regulation on what to do to manage last-minute emergencies to pull out judges after they have been accepted on the panel?
 

Harriet

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 23, 2017
Country
Australia
Estonian judge Nikolai Salnikov suspended for 2 years

He showed up totally drunk at the initial judge meeting of Egna Junior GP men event. He fell asleep during the meeting. At the end meeting he couldn't get up.
On Friday night (SP for on Thursday and FS on Saturday) he drunk so much that the rink restaurant owner had to call the organization committee

https://www.isu.org/figure-skating/rules/fsk-communications/23246-case-2019-05-isu-vs-salnikov/file

Good grief. So he would have been, at minimum, hung over while judging both events. Wouldn't that render the judging open to question?

There really should be an established procedure for replacing a judge at short notice in circumstances like this - not that I imagine it arises often, but still. I presume there's one for replacing a judge or tech panel member who, for example, has a heart attack in between the judges' meeting and the start of the first event they're scheduled to officiate for; could it be extended to cover non-medical circumstances such as this as well?
 

karne

in Emergency Backup Mode
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 1, 2013
Country
Australia
Estonian judge Nikolai Salnikov suspended for 2 years

He showed up totally drunk at the initial judge meeting of Egna Junior GP men event. He fell asleep during the meeting. At the end meeting he couldn't get up.
On Friday night (SP for on Thursday and FS on Saturday) he drunk so much that the rink restaurant owner had to call the organization committee

https://www.isu.org/figure-skating/rules/fsk-communications/23246-case-2019-05-isu-vs-salnikov/file

I am surprised that they let him judge in Egna. They didn't need him to complete the panel because they had enough judges on site.
Maybe there is no regulation on what to do to manage last-minute emergencies to pull out judges after they have been accepted on the panel.

That's utterly appalling.
 

el henry

Go have some cake. And come back with jollity.
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 3, 2014
Country
United-States
Estonian judge Nikolai Salnikov suspended for 2 years

He showed up totally drunk at the initial judge meeting of Egna Junior GP men event. He fell asleep during the meeting. At the end meeting he couldn't get up.
On Friday night (SP for on Thursday and FS on Saturday) he drunk so much that the rink restaurant owner had to call the organization committee

https://www.isu.org/figure-skating/rules/fsk-communications/23246-case-2019-05-isu-vs-salnikov/file

I am surprised that they let him judge in Egna. They didn't need him to complete the panel because they had enough judges on site.
Maybe there is no regulation on what to do to manage last-minute emergencies to pull out judges after they have been accepted on the panel?

Thank you for the report, but obviously I can’t “like” the post.

Just like wow :eeking:
 

Andrea82

Medalist
Joined
Feb 16, 2014
During the season

394 Single/Pairs judges (out of 469 eligible) judged (or were referees) in at least one international competitions.
However, 2 of those who didn't serve as judges served as technical controllers.

Judges serving in most competitions were:
Yulia Levshunova (Georgia): JGP Baltic, JGP Zagreb, Denis Ten Memorial, Skate America, Golden Bear, Volvo Cup, Bosphorus Cup, Golden Spin, Grand Prix of Bratislava, Skate Helena (10 competitions)
Franco Benini (Italy): Tayside Trophy, Lombardia Trophy, JGP Zagreb, IceLab International Cup, Skate Celje, Grand Prix Final, EduSport, Skate Helena, The Nordics (9)
Aniela Hebel-Szmak (Poland): Tayside Trophy, JGP Baltic, Ice Star Minks (Junior), Ice Star Minks (Challenger), Warsaw Cup, Open d'Andorra, Grand Prix of Bratislava, Winter Youth Olympic Games, Junior World Championships (9).

138 Ice Dance judges (out of 165 eligible) judged (or were referees) in at least one international competition.
However, 2 of those who didn't serve as judges served as technical controllers.

Judges serving in most competitions were:

Zhanna Shemet (Belarus): JGP Courchevel, JGP Chelyabinsk, Ice Star Minks (Junior), Ice Star Minks (Challenger), Volvo Cup, Golden Spin, Mentor Cup, Jegvirag Cup (8)
Salome Chigogidze (Georgia): JGP Riga, JGP Zagreb, GP France, Volvo Cup, Rostelecom, GP Final, Winter Youth Olympic Games, 4 Continents (8)
Malgorzata Sobkow (Polonia): Ice Star Minks (Junior), Ice Star Minks (Challenger), GP France, Rostelecom, Open d'Andorra, GP Final, Mentor Cup, European Championships (8)
Lolita Labunskaya (Russia): Nepela, JGP Zagreb, Denis Ten Memorial, Skate America, Volvo Cup, Bosphorus Cup, Santa Claus Cup, Grand Prix of Bratislava (8)
Olena Lisova (Ukraine): NRW Trophy, JGP Baltic, Nebelhorn, JGP Egna, Volvo Cup, Warsaw Cup, Golden Spin, Mentor Cup (8)


50 Technical controllers (out of 68 eligible) served in at least one international Single competition.
16 Technical controllers (out of 25 eligible) served in at least one international Pair competition
20 Technical controllers (out of 23 eligible) served in at least one international Ice Dance competition.


103 Technical specialists (out of 144 eligible) served in at least one international Single competition. However 4 of those without service served as TS in Pair competitions.
25 Technical specialists (out of 35 eligible) served in at least one international Pair competition.
37 Technical specialists (out of 54 eligible) served in at least one international Ice Dance competition.

TS serving in most Single competitions (either as TS or ATS) were:

Evelyn Rossoukhi-Schneider (Austria): Tayside Trophy, Lombardia Trophy, Black Sea Ice Cup, Denis Ten Memorial, Golden Bear, Icelab International Cup, Denkova-Staviski Cup, Bosphorus Cup, Sophia Trophy, Bavaria Open, Challenge Cup (11 competitions)
Vera Vandecaveye (Belgium): Tayside Trophy, Lombardia Trophy, Black Sea Ice Cup, Icelab International Cup, Denkova-Staviski Cup, Grand Prix Final, Sophia Trophy, Bavaria Open (8)
Sandra Pavicic (Croatia): JGP Courchevel, Halloween Cup, Golden Bear, Prague Ice Cup, Golden Spin, Skate Helena,Jegvirag Cup (7)

TS serving in most Pair events (either as TS or ATS) were:

Evelyn Rossoukhi-Schneider (Austria): Icelab International Cup, Golden Spin, Challenge Cup (4)
Simon Briggs (Great Britain): Nebelhorn, Halloween Cup, GP Final, Challenge Cup (4)
Sarkis Tewanian (Poland): Denis Ten Memorial, Ice Star Minsk, Icelab International Cup, Rostelecom Cup (4)
Alexander Kuznetsov (Russia): JGP Zagreb, Finlandia Trophy, Warsaw Cup, European Championships (4)

TS serving (either as TS or ATS) in most Ice Dance events were:

Anna Krytskaya (JGP Riga, JGP Chelyabinsk, Mezzaluna Cup, Denis Ten Memorial, Ice Star Minks, Volvo Cup, Jegvirag Cup)
Slavka Grincova (Lombardia Trophy, Nepela, Pavel Roman Memorial, Rostelecom, Mentor Cup, European Championships, Egna Dance Trophy)
György Elek (US International, Nebelhorn, Finlandia Trophy, Asian Trophy, Rostelecom, 4 Continents)
 

karne

in Emergency Backup Mode
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 1, 2013
Country
Australia
Huh. I wonder what the ISU will do about next season's appointments. There won't be the annual exams in Oberstdorf at this rate. This would really suck if you were working towards your international accreditation.
 

Andrea82

Medalist
Joined
Feb 16, 2014
The list of Referees, Judges, Technical Controllers, Technical Specialists, Data & Replay Operators season 2020/21 for Single & Pair Skating, Ice Dance and Synchronized Skating has been published
https://www.isu.org/figure-skating/...97-2337-list-officials-fs-id-sys-2020-21/file

Because of 2019-20 season being cut short and inability to hold the recertification seminars, ISU decided not to drop or demote anyone for lack of service or lack of seminar's participation. The only officials withdrawn are those reaching the age limit (70 years old in 2020) and those deciding to retire on their own.
They are the following:

Single / Pair judges:
Rita Zonnekeyn (Belgium)
Kuo-Chih Chen (Taiwan)
Jana Baudysova (Czech Republic)
Merja Kosonen (Finland)
Franco Benini (Italy)
Maira Abasova (Russia)

Ice Dance judges:
Pamela Chislett (Canada)
Roberts Krutkramelis (Latvia)
Maira Abasova (Russia)

Single Technical Specialists:
Evelyn Rossoukhi-Schneider (Austria)

Pair Technical Specialists:
Evelyn Rossoukhi-Schneider (Austria)

Ice Dance Technical Specialists:
Michael Webster (Germany)

__
Charles Cyr (USA) can't serve because he is ISU Sport Director for Single and Pair
Ulrich Linder (Switzerland, Synchro)) can't serve because he is ISU treasurer
Wieland Lüders (Germany, Data & Replay Operator) can't serve because he is ISU event coordinator

Weiguang Chen (China) and Nikolai Salnikov (Estonia) are still suspended.
Yurii Balkov (Ukraine) is still stuck with international status because of his lack of a working knowledge of English.
 

Andrea82

Medalist
Joined
Feb 16, 2014
ISU Council decided this week to postpone the Frankfurt Officials Seminar originally scheduled for July 4-11, 2021. New tentative date is August 22-29, 2021. ISU Council will evaluate which parts of the seminar can be moved online.

The original program included

- recertification for ISU and International Technical Controllers and/or Technical Specialists

- first appointment of new International Technical Controllers and/or Technical Specialists

- promotion from International to ISU Technical Controllers/Technical Specialists

- education training for National Technical Controllers and/or Technical Specialists for Synchronized Skating

- first appointment of new International Judges (including exams)

- first appointment of International and ISU Referees (including exams)

- seminar for data and replay operators

_______________________________

Because of few International events having taken place, the requirements in terms of services to be re-appointed for international or ISU judges, referees, technical controllers and specialists, data and replay operators won't be considered.

_______________________________

On an unrelated news, World Team Trophy was the last international event for veteran US Ice Dance judge Sharon Rogers. She will be retired at the end of the season because of age limit.
 
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