48 HIGHLIGHTS OF JUDO Exploring all Sides of Judo: interview to Olympic referee Evgeny Rakhlin Evgeny Rakhlin Evgeny Rakhlin was an Olympic referee in Tokyo having spent his whole life in judo. He now uses his experience to give us a very precise technical analysis. referee: arbitro technical analysis: analisi tecnica First, I want to say that our referees for the Olympic Games are the best team as they know the rules in exactly the same way, and this brings consistency and quality across the tournaments. tournament: torneo There have been a lot of low techniques such as over-theback throw and sutemi waza, which causes the opponent s posture to be unbalanced. I can say that I have seen throws with very good amplitude, which are amazing moments for spectators but also for referees, but sometimes competitors look like they don t want to make real contact. low technique: tecnica di scarsa difficolt over-the-back throw: carica sul dorso posture: posizione del corpo unbalanced: squilibrato throw: atterramento amplitude: ampiezza to make contact: entrare in contatto There has almost been a revolution in grappling techniques in recent years, a very positive change. Also, standingtechnique defence strategies are very advanced but there is not enough practice defending: attack strikes are still the most attractive. grappling technique: tecnica del corpo a corpo standing-technique: tecnica in posizione eretta defence strategy: strategia di difesa attack strike: colpo di attacco Referees are sometimes forced to give a penalty to athletes for not gripping. Athletes must understand that they can be in trouble if they keep getting penalties for this kind of mistakes. to give a penalty: dare una penalit to grip: afferrare, fare la presa to get a penalty: prendere una penalit Adapted from: https://www.ijf.org/news/show/technical-analysis-day-1-exploring-all-sides-of-judo 94 TO DO