IFSC Officials Appointed for the 2020 Olympic Games and Sport Climbing Season

At the beginning of the year in which Sport Climbing will make its Summer Olympic debut, the IFSC is delighted to announce the nomination of officials for the 2020 World Cup season. With now less than 200 days to go until the Olympic Games begin, the IFSC is also pleased to unveil the list of nominated officials for the Tokyo 2020 Sport Climbing events.

IFSC Officials Nominated for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020:

Technical Delegate Sport             Christophe Billon (FRA)

Jury President                                 Stanley Yeo (SGP)            

Judge                                                 Tim Hatch (GBR)              

Judge                                                 Ying Cheng (CHN)            

Judge                                                 Paul Ledet (CAN)             

Chief Routesetter Lead                 Adam Pustelnik (POL)    

Routesetter Lead                           Hiroshi Okano (JPN)       

Routesetter Lead                           Jan Zbranek (CZE)            

Chief Routesetter Bouldering     Percy Bishton (GBR)       

Routesetter Bouldering                Manuel Hassler (SUI)     

Routesetter Bouldering                Katja Vidmar (SLO)          

Routesetter Bouldering                Romain Cabessut (FRA)

Officials for the Games underwent a thorough selection process, during which they were evaluated based on their professionalism and strong competence in their respective fields. The IFSC Executive Board approved the selection criteria and voted to accept the nominations for the Olympic Games on 23rd October 2019, then voted to approve the entire 2020 list of officials during their biannual meeting on 13th December 2019 in Turin, Italy.

“Aside from our athletes, IFSC officials are at the heart of each international Sport Climbing event. We are both privileged and proud to have such an experienced, accomplished team behind our events in 2020 – a pivotal year for our sport,”  says IFSC President Marco Scolaris.

Christophe Billon, Technical Delegate of Sport for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020

Christophe Billon (FRA) is one of four IFSC Technical Delegates, responsible for ensuring that each IFSC event is held in accordance with IFSC regulations. Having worked as a national Judge in 1987 during the Mondial de Grenoble and organising the first ‘Top Rock Challenge’ in 1996 and 1997, which in 1999 became the Bouldering World Cup, Christophe is certainly experienced in the world of international Sport Climbing events. In 2019 Christophe was Technical Delegate for a number of events, most notably the IFSC Youth World Championships and the Bouldering event at the inaugural ANOC World Beach Games. He was also Technical Delegate for the IFSC Climbing World Championships Innsbruck 2018. Christophe’s first IFSC appointment was as Jury President (JP) in 2003 and now with over 20 events as JP and the same as Technical Delegate, the IFSC is proud to announce that he will be joining the IFSC team of officials at the 2020 Games as Technical Delegate of Sport.

IFSC Officials 2020 Christophe 2

IFSC Technical Delegate Christophe Billon (right) and Jérôme Meyer, IFSC Head of Olympic Coordination (left). Photo: Eddie Fowke - IFSC.

Stanley Yeo, Sport Climbing Jury President at the 2020 Games

Receiving his judging licence after completing two judging internships and attending the International Judge course in Imst, Austria, Stanley Yeo (SGP) has been a nominated official for a total of 15 years and is a is a veteran of IFSC events and Asian multi-sport events. More recently, Stanley has officiated as Jury President at the Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018, Asian Games Jakarta-Palembang 2018, the IFSC Youth World Championships 2019 in Arco, Italy, and the 2019 China Open in Guangzhou. 

IFSC Officials 2020 Stanley

IFSC Jury President Stanley Yeo. Photo: Eddie Fowke - IFSC.

Adam Pustelnik, Chief Lead Routesetter for Tokyo 2020

Well versed in international Sport Climbing events, Adam Pustelnik (POL) started routesetting for the IFSC in 2005. Adam was the Chief Routesetter for Lead during the IFSC Climbing World Championships Hachioji 2019, as well as for the Combined World Championships. Adam was also part of the routesetting team at the IFSC Climbing World Championships Paris 2016 and the Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018. A top-level climber himself, Adam ticked off the notoriously difficult sport route Action Directe (9a / 5.14d) in the Frankenjura, Germany, back in 2010.

IFSC Officials 2020 Adam

IFSC Chief Lead Routesetter for Tokyo 2020, Adam Pustelnik. Photo: Eddie Fowke - IFSC.

Percy Bishton, Chief Routesetter for Bouldering at the Tokyo 2020 Games

Having been climbing for 35 years, Percy Bishton (GBR) worked as a routesetter for his first international Sport Climbing competition in 1994 and has now set over 50 international events. He has shares in two Bouldering gyms, one of which is The Climbing Works in Sheffield, UK, which hosts the annual international bouldering event the CWIF (Climbing Works International Festival) and is co-owned by IFSC Technical Delegate Graeme Alderson (GBR). In 2019, Percy was on the routesetting team for the inaugural ANOC (Association of National Olympic Committees) World Beach Games in Doha, Qatar, which included Bouldering as one of 14 disciplines. Percy’s favourite competition that he has set (so far) was the IFSC Climbing World Championships in Paris, France, in 2016.

IFSC Officials 2020 Percy

IFSC Chief Bouldering Routesetter for Tokyo 2020, Percy Bishton (right) and IFSC Bouldering Routesetter for Tokyo 2020 Katja Vidmar (left).

The selection process used for the 2020 Sport Climbing season is to be published here under the IFSC Officials Career Path. All officials are assessed yearly by the Directors of the Judges and Routesetters Commissions, alongside the IFSC Vice President Sport/Events and IFSC Sport Director. Only IFSC Officials with a positive outcome of the 2019 assessment have been considered for nomination during the 2020 season.   

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