Terry Goodlad kirjoitti äärimmäisen mielenkiintoisen artikkelin, jonka suosittelisin luettavaksi, etenkin kun näistä sijoituksista on enemmän tai vähemmän aina vääntöä! Artikkeli sijaitsee alunperin
www.bodysport.com saitilla.
You be the judge by Terry Goodlad
For every job on the planet that someone does, there is at least one person out there that thinks he can do it better. There are some jobs however, like being the President of the United States or an IFBB Fitness or Figure judge, that attract a lot more criticism than normal. Fortunately for the President he is loved and appreciated by the majority of the people for at least one day every 4 years. Signing up to be an IFBB Fitness and Figure judge means you will endure an eternity filled with second-guessing, criticisms, and blatant accusations bringing your competence and character into public question on a daily basis. No one will ever like you… your mother might provided she doesn’t compete in masters figure.
When was the last time you heard anyone say anything positive about a judge, a judging panel, or the job the judges did at a contest? Have you personally ever acknowledged a job well done by an IFBB judge or judging panel in a contest you didn’t win?
It’s a thankless job done by people who do their best to judge a sport that’s judging criteria is completely subjective. In the absence of any tangible benchmarks like time, weight, distance, or knocking someone out to gauge an athletes level of competence to compare it to another; it’s going to come down to each judges personal preference and opinion and working within the general guidelines of the IFBB rule book.
Combine that with the short time frame to sort through a lineup of bodies that are all considered to be among the best in the world and it’s a very daunting task to be an IFBB Fitness or Figure judge. If you think its easy then I would challenge you to sit at the next contest you attend and place each and every athlete on stage where you feel they belong in the same time frame as the judges have to work with. Remember as well that you will need to respond face to face with each and every athlete that you judge and tell them why you made the decision you did. It is not a very easy job. Now take those results and post them somewhere where the world can see what you thought of everyone on stage and prepare yourself for the backlash.
See it through their eyes and you can have some sympathy for them. But there is still the competitive athlete and they have some very good points to make as well. Competitive IFBB Professional Fitness or Figure is typically not a money making endeavor. Each contest can cost at least a couple thousand, usually more, to compete in when you include suits, dye, trainers, choreographers, music, hair, nails, and the list goes on and on. A great deal of sacrifice is made; careers are put on hold along with families and relationships. All so that the organization can have contests and an organization with athletes to administer, promoters can make money, and an entire industry can flourish in profitability. There is very little reward for the athletes other than recognition for a job well done. The absolute least that the organization can do is provide competent, honest, and well trained judges to judge the contest in a fair manner. When it appears to the athletes and the fans that the organization has not provided judges that can or will do a good job, or there is the appearance of corruption or political favor, then we are all going to hear about it and justifiably so.
Both sides are right but perhaps there is a better way of dealing with the problems when they arise. First of all gossip and trash talk never solved anything. While spirited banter challenging officiating is just as much a part of every sport that exists, when the banter starts to erode the reputation and credibility of the sport and the organization then it’s a problem that needs to be solved.
Is all IFBB judging bad just because someone disagrees with the judges? Absolutely not!
Case in point: After the Arnold Classic Fitness and Figure International we ran a poll to see who our readers thought won each contest and if they felt the judges did a good job or not.
The fitness contest was very tightly contested between Jenny Hendershott and Kim Klein and at the end of the show, Kim Klein rose to the top. It was a very close battle between the two and it came down to what your personal preference was in both the physique and routine rounds. The majority of the voting panel chose Kim Klein as the winner. The majority of the panel…
We posted our poll and let it stand for over one month so we would get as many respondents as possible so the results would be more accurate and the respondents were in the hundreds. The results were basically split evenly down the middle with 38% voting for Kim Klein to win and 41% voting for Jenny Hendershott. The second question was in reference to how good the judges were and 48% felt they had done a good job while 52% felt they had not.
Then we posted a poll for the figure contest and 48% voted Valerie Waugaman as the winner and 20% voted Mary Lado as the winner. Lado had won the contest and in an apparent obvious upset, Waugaman finished in 5th place. The crowd responded loudly in opposition to placing Waugaman in 5th and of course the judges took the heat. In our polls 75% felt the judges didn’t do a good job while 25% said they did.
It was the same panel of judges, same stage, same day, yet a resoundingly different public opinion on whether or not the judges had done a good job. In the aftermath there was plenty of spirited debate over who should have won and why, lots of conspiracy theories, lots of politics blamed…not much mentioned about the subjective nature of fitness and figure judging and the fact that Lado and Waugaman had two entirely different looking overall packages. Certainly no mention about how hard it must be to judge a contest with so many athletes of such high caliber. If our poll proved anything, it’s that winners and losers are picked based on opinion alone and when that happens, opinions will differ and there will be heated debates.
Unfortunately judges take the brunt of the blame as no matter who they chose, someone will disagree.
Yes, there are some judges that are not as knowledgeable as they should be. There have been some in the past that have tried to influence other judges on a panel to side with them on a decision. There have even been cases where judges fail to remove themselves from a panel when they know they cannot be impartial or have abused their power for personal gain. Think of what could have gone wrong and at some point over the past 30 years it has probably happened. But the vast majority of judges are well trained, very experienced, honest and truly care deeply for the sport. Even if there is one judge on a panel that is dishonest or incompetent, that is only one judge with only one vote. Also, since the actions of one bad judge will be blamed on all judges, good judges have a tendency to take it upon themselves to solve the problems as their own personal reputations are at risk.
If you experience something that a judge does or says that is inappropriate, unfair, or in any way contradictory to how a judge should conduct his or her self then the IFBB wants to know about it. You can contact IFBB Men’s judging representative Jim Rockell. His email is
jrockell@aol.com.
Outside of that, if you disagree with how you were judged then there are a number of things you can do:
First and foremost take an honest look at yourself and see what you should improve or change so you can be YOUR best.
Ask a judges opinion on what you could do better or change. Be careful with the advice you get as it may change from judge to judge. Listen to what they have to say but learn to be your own best critic. Focusing on the flaws of your fellow competitors won’t fix your own or make you place higher than them.
Judges look for flaws. As an athlete gets ready for a show she spends hours looking at how her body is improving each day. Friends, family, training partners, trainers and guys in the gym that suddenly realize you are hot will all tell you about your strengths. While it is all very positive, it can blind you to your flaws that need to be improved. Remember the judges don’t sit mesmerized by your strengths, they are trained to look for flaws and when they find them they will compare your flaws with another athletes to see who is better prepared. Learn to see your flaws and improve them and you will be shocked at how things will start to change in your favor.
Most importantly we should all remember that if we have a problem we should do something about it rather than talk disparagingly about others. You can challenge any judge you wish personally in a polite manner to better understand why you placed where you did. That approach can actually help you. Gossiping negatively about people and the organization won’t fix a thing and only erodes the reputation and credibility of the sport you are involved in, makes you dwell on negative things, and since you won’t solve the problems this way, they never go away and eventually you leave the sport with a bitter taste in your mouth.
You have a voice and people are willing to listen and work to solve problems and make things better…if you want things to be different you can only change it if you speak up.
Tuo lavojen helmi, joka vuoden 2004 Olympian jälkeen katosi kisamaailmasta ilmoitti Team Phat Boi Fitness campilla Arizonassa, että hän kilpailee figuressa jälleen tänä vuonna. 
