The start of the 1600m “physical test” at the IRWJ evaluation (© c)
45 International and Area Race Walking Judges (IRWJ) from 30 countries, met in Paris for two days, 28 - 29 October 2006, for the International Race Walking Judges Evaluation which takes place at the end of each 4 year period (the last one was in 2002).
26 judges came from the existing IRWJ panel and another 19 from Level II panels, representing all the six Areas.
This evaluation, which was conducted in three languages (English, French and Spanish), had the purpose of identifying the best 30 Walking Judges in the World (including at least one Judge from each Area) in order to form the panel of IRWJ for the period 2007-2010, during which each Judge will have the opportunity to act at least twice at an IAAF World Athletics Series Event.
The evaluation was conducted over two days and comprised the following tests / examinations:
- A basic physical test to establish the candidates’ fitness (“Cooper test”)
- A written exam to establish the candidates’ knowledge of the rules and regulations
- A video examination with 20 “in competition” race walking sequences, to establish the candidates’ capacity to judge the correctness of the athletes’ mode of progression
- An oral exam to test, among other things, the candidates’ ability to communicate
The evaluation commission, composed by Maurizio Damilano, Bob Bowman, Peter Marlow and Luis Saladie, all members of the IAAF Race Walking Committee, will review the results of the exams and propose to the IAAF Council, which meets in Monaco on 13 / 14 November, the list of 30 names that will compose the new Panel (2007 / 2010).
IAAF