Gold Standard | Australian Officials Earn Global Recognition

Australian officials have enjoyed a golden run with seven successful candidates elevated to World Athletics Gold Referee Status and three appointed to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, highlighting the opportunities that lay within the ranks ahead of Brisbane 2032.

After completing their online examination in late November, the Australian group of six featuring Kirsteen Farrance, Richard Lawysz, Janet Nixon, Kim Owens, Peter Roberts and Khan Sharp were awarded World Athletics Gold Referee Status – while Athletics Australia Competition Manager Anthony Curry (NZL) was also successful in his application.

The contingent join Brian Roe, Peter Hamilton, Helen Roberts and Trevor Spittle (NZL) as World Athletics Gold Referees hailing from the Oceania region, strengthening the area’s stocks from the top down as the campaign to grow the officiating fraternity becomes paramount ahead of the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Three Australian officials who will feature on the sport’s biggest stage and rub shoulders with track and field’s greatest names at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games include Helen Roberts (World Athletics Referee), Janet Nixon (International Photo Finish Judge) and Kirsten Crocker (World Athletics Race Walking Judge) – who were all appointed at the World Athletics Council Meeting in December.

Roberts recently featured on World Athletics’ “Official Business” series, sharing her journey to becoming an international technical official as a former athlete and coach.

"You start to know the athletes, as you meet them from a young age and follow their career,” she says. “They start to see you as part of the furniture, and you just want to see how their lives end up. You become part of the person. You see them get married, have kids and now their kids are competing. It’s a real love of it!"

While the cohort have undergone significant education and training over the years including the new World Athletics global officiating recognition scheme WARECS (World Athletics Referees Education and Certification System), much of their success boils down to their passion for the sport, with key benefits of officiating including:

• The opportunity to remain involved in athletics if a person is unable to compete
• An opportunity to socialise with like-minded individuals
• The ability to be involved in, and give back to, a community focused organisation
• Assist athletes to perform at their best and achieve their goals and dreams
• The opportunity to officiate at National Athletics Events and Championships
• The ability to progress to International competition such as the Olympic Games for those with greater ambitions

To find out more about becoming an official, CLICK HERE.

Also recognised at the World Athletics Council Meeting in December, former Athletics Australia President Jan Swinhoe was appointed to the World Athletics Working Group on Gender Diverse Athletes, assigned the position of Member Federation Official.

The Working Group on Gender Diverse Athletes is an expert advisory body appointed by the Council and charged with keeping abreast of developments in law, science, sports and society concerning gender diverse athletes. Its mission is to enable World Athletics to be thorough and considered about the implications of any such developments for its programming, eligibility rules and educational initiatives as the organisation upholds its core commitments to its elite global community.

By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 16/1/2024