2026 Olympic Games Participation and Judges | Golden Skate

2026 Olympic Games Participation and Judges

Andrea82

Medalist
Joined
Feb 16, 2014
ISU Communication 2741

The draw for the Olympic panels took place Sunday in Beijing.

First priority is given to countries who earned a spot at 2025 World Championships. So for Men and Women the draw was only among those countries.
Second priority is given to countries who earned a spot at Beijing Qualifier competition. This was used for Pairs (no need of the draw, because only 13 countries have qualified for Olympics and have an ISU judge. Armenia doesn't have an ISU judge) and Ice Dance.
Eventually (but not needed this time), there would be a third draw among countries who took part to 2025 Worlds in that discipline to fill the panel if the first two steps didn't fill all spots.

The result is as follows

Men:
Azerbajian
Canada
China
Spain
France
Georgia
Italy
Kazakhstan
South Korea
Latvia
Switzerland
Sweden
USA

Women:
Austria
Bulgaria
France
Great Britain
Israel
Japan
Kazakhstan
South Korea
Lithuania
Poland
Romania
Switzerland
USA

Pairs:
Australia
Canada
China
Great Britain
Georgia
Germany
Hungary
Italy
Japan
Netherlands
Poland
USA
Uzabekhstan

Ice Dance:
Australia
Canada
China
Czechia
Spain
Finland
France
Great Britain
Georgia
Germany
Italy
South Korea
USA

Team Event

Men
China, Spain, France, Switzerland and Sweden from the Men panel
Canada, Great Britain, Hungary and Italy from the Pair panel

Women
Austria, Israel, Lithuania, Switzerland and USA from Women panel
Australia, China, Netherlands and Uzbekistan from Pair panel

Pair
Australia, Canada, China, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Ukzebekstian

Ice Dance
Australia, Canada, China, Czechia, Spain, Great Britain, Georgia, Germany, South Korea

https://isu-d8g8b4b7ece7aphs.a03.az...n-and-Judges-Draw-Beijing-1758703293-0954.pdf

The names of the judges chosen must be sent by October 4, 2025.
Judges must be ISU judges and have served at least twice in ISU Championships or Olympic Qualifying Competition.
in order to be eligible for the Pair Skating, Judges who have never judged Pair Skating at any ISU Championships before must have officiated satisfactorily in at least one International Competition and one ISU Event in Pair Skating during the 48 months preceding the draw for the Olympic Winter Games.

Some countries have only 1 ISU judge, so the individual nomination is already known
Azerbaijan judge will be Yurii Kliushnikov. He already judged Women at 2022 Olympics and at 2002 and 2006 Olympics (when he was still representing Ukraine)
Kazakhstan judge will be Nadezhda Paretskaya. At Olympics (unlike at ISU Championships) one judge can serve in more than 1 event. So she will be featured in both Men and Women panels. It will be her first Olympic judging.
Latvian judge will be Agita Abele. She judged both Men and Women at 2018 Olympics.
Lithuanian judge will be Laimute Krauziene. She judged Ice Dance many times at Olympics: 2010, 2014 and 2022.
Uzbekistan judge will be Saodat Numanova. She judged Men at 2018 Olympics.
Romanian judge will be Marina Beschea. She has never judged at Olympics.

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Skate Canada has announced its judges
Leanna Caron MEN
Karen Howard Pairs
Leslie Keen Ice Dance

It was on Facebook.. but I cannot embed it for some reason

Caron judged Ice Dance at 2018 Olympics.
Howard judge Women at 2014 Olympics.
Keen will make her Olympic judging debut.

Skate Canada have quite a number of their judges officiating at more than 1 Olympic edition.
USFSA, on the other hand, tends to spread the Olympic judging assignments between more people (we will see if they continue like this this year), with judges usually serving only in 1 Olympic.


2010: Islam, Benson, Derby, Abbott
2014: Howard, Butcher, Abbott
2018: Hunter, Leblanc-Richard, Lukasik, Caron
2022: Benson, Hunter, Derby, Leblanc-Richard
2026: Caron, Howard, Keen
 
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TP in dance... Please no Restatt
I have good news for you.

I did a bit of digging and found out that the panels are selected no less than 90 days before the Olympics. Your tech panels are:

ID
Marcin Kozubek - POL
Ayako Higashino - JPN
Tae-hwa Yang - KOR

M
Leena Laaksonen - FIN
Clarence Ong - AUS
Raoul LeBlanc - CAN

W
Jeroen Prins - NED
Claudia Unger - GER
Zsofia Kulcsar - HUN

P
Susan Lynch - AUS
Veronique Fleury - FRA
Whitney Gaynor - USA

Note:

1. In the past, ISU has tested panels at the GP events. The panels called together at the following events:

ID: GPF
M: GPCAN
W: GPFIN
P: 2025 World Championships

2. The order in which tech panels are usually listed is Tech Controller, Tech Specialist 1, Tech Specialist 2. The panels as listed above for M and W match the panels at their initial Grand Prix events.

3. Just for reference, the referees at these events were:

ID at GPF: Rolf Pipoh (GER)
Men at GPCAN: Marco Buttarelli (ITA)
Women at GPFIN: Lone Villefrance (DEN)
Pairs at WC2025: Zanna Kulik (EST)
 
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I have good news for you.

I did a bit of digging and found out that the panels are selected no less than 90 days before the Olympics. Your tech panels are:

ID
Marcin Kozubek - POL
Ayako Higashino - JPN
Tae-hwa Yang - KOR

M
Leena Laaksonen - FIN
Clarence Ong - AUS
Raoul LeBlanc - CAN

W
Jeroen Prins - NED
Claudia Unger - GER
Zsofia Kulcsar - HUN

P
Susan Lynch - AUS
Veronique Fleury - FRA
Whitney Gaynor - USA

Note:

1. In the past, ISU has tested panels at the GP events. The panels called together at the following events:
M: GPCAN
W: GPFIN
P: 2025 World Championships
ID: no GPs this season, presumably GPF

2. The order in which tech panels are usually listed is Tech Controller, Tech Specialist 1, Tech Specialist 2. The panels as listed above for M and W match the panels at their initial Grand Prix events.

3. Just for reference, the referees at these events were:

Men at GPCAN: Marco Buttarelli (ITA)
Women at GPFIN: Lone Villefrance (DEN)
Pairs at WC2025: Zanna Kulik (EST)
THANK YOU !
 
Higashino was the Technical Specialist in Sochi 2014 and Beijing 2022. She basically have called in half of the Olympic Games since the new judging system was introduced.
Yang was the Technical Specialist in Pyeongchang 2018

Susan Lynch is a veteran of Olympic judging. She was a judge in Torino 2006 (Women) and then Technical Controller in Vancouver 2010 (Pairs) and Pyeongchang 2018 (Women)

Jeroen Prins was a judge in Beijing 2022 (Pairs)

I thought Laaksonen (another member of the ISU technical committee) already had served at Olympics but checking, it will be the first time for her.
 
And I am guessing that they do draw 9 for the Short program, Rhythm dance, and then sub 4 of them for the Long, Free ?
 
Yes, 45 minutes before the Short, they draw 9 out of 13. Then the other 4 automatically serve in the Free. 45 minutes before the Free, they draw 5 from the 9 judges of the Short.
Considering what we have seen in the GPF... it's sad to think that judges will be that important but it will be, especially since there is a judge for every podium contender. (and about 8 judges "from" IAM)
 
Skate Canada has announced its judges
Leanna Caron MEN
Karen Howard Pairs
Leslie Keen Ice Dance

It was on Facebook.. but I cannot embed it for some reason

According the minutes of October USFSA board meeting, USA juges will be:
Janis Engel, Kristina Lundgren, Peggy Graham, and Kevin Rosenstein
https://usfigureskating.org/documents/2025/12/4/BOD_Minutes_2025_10_13_FINAL.pdf (paragraph Milano planning)

Engel is the Ide Dance one.
The document indicates that Rosenstein will also serve in the Team Event. So it is the Women panel judge (USA team event judge is the USA Women panel judge according to the draw results).

Lundgren (Women) and Graham (Pairs) also officiated in Beijing 2022 games.
Interestently, it is the first times in ages since USA judges served in back to back games (apart when they were referees or technical controllers nominated by ISU).

2022: Kristina Lundgren, Peggy Graham, Jennifer Mast
2018: Lorrie Parker, Deveny Deck, Tamie Campbell, Sharon Rogers
2014: Sam Auxier, Robert Rosenbluth, Anne Cammett, Shawn Rettstatt
2010: Shean Coco, Deborah Currie, Taffy Holliday, Charles Cyr
2006: Steve Winkler, Gale Tanger, William Smith, Linda Leaver
2002: Janet Allen, Joseph Inman, Lucy Brennan
1998: Paula Naughton, Susan Johnson, Roger Glenn
1994: Ron Pfenning, Maraget Wier, Elaine DeMore* (officiated also in 1984)
1992: Hugh Graham, Joan Gruber, Marie Louse Wright (officiated also in 1964)

 
According the minutes of October USFSA board meeting, USA juges will be:
Janis Engel, Kristina Lundgren, Peggy Graham, and Kevin Rosenstein
https://usfigureskating.org/documents/2025/12/4/BOD_Minutes_2025_10_13_FINAL.pdf (paragraph Milano planning)

Engel is the Ide Dance one.
The document indicates that Rosenstein will also serve in the Team Event. So it is the Women panel judge (USA team event judge is the USA Women panel judge according to the draw results).

Lundgren (Women) and Graham (Pairs) also officiated in Beijing 2022 games.
Interestently, it is the first times in ages since USA judges served in back to back games (apart when they were referees or technical controllers nominated by ISU).

2022: Kristina Lundgren, Peggy Graham, Jennifer Mast
2018: Lorrie Parker, Deveny Deck, Tamie Campbell, Sharon Rogers
2014: Sam Auxier, Robert Rosenbluth, Anne Cammett, Shawn Rettstatt
2010: Shean Coco, Deborah Currie, Taffy Holliday, Charles Cyr
2006: Steve Winkler, Gale Tanger, William Smith, Linda Leaver
2002: Janet Allen, Joseph Inman, Lucy Brennan
1998: Paula Naughton, Susan Johnson, Roger Glenn
1994: Ron Pfenning, Maraget Wier, Elaine DeMore* (officiated also in 1984)
1992: Hugh Graham, Joan Gruber, Marie Louse Wright (officiated also in 1964)

Thank you. I don't recognize these names so perhaps, that's because they are not on my "radar" which could be a good sign for everyone competing and their fans :) do you have any of them on your radar?
 
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Thank you. I don't recognize these names so perhaps, that's because they are not on my "radar" which could be a good sign for everyone competing and their fans :) do you have any of them on your radar?
Engel
JGP Final 2025
Skate America 2025
Worlds 2025

Lundgren
GPF Final 2025 (Women and Junior Men)
NHK 2025 (Men and Women)
Lombardia Trophy 2025 (Men, Women, Pairs)
4 Continents 2025 (Pairs)

Graham
Skate America 2025 (Pairs)
Nebelhorn 2025 (Men, Women, Pairs)
GFP Final 2024 (Men and Junior Pairs)

Rosenstein
GP Final 2025 (Pairs and Senior Men)
GP France 2025 (Men, Women, Pairs)
Kinoshita Cup 2025 (Men, Women)
Worlds 2025 (Pairs)
 
Engel
JGP Final 2025
Skate America 2025
Worlds 2025

Lundgren
GPF Final 2025 (Women and Junior Men)
NHK 2025 (Men and Women)
Lombardia Trophy 2025 (Men, Women, Pairs)
4 Continents 2025 (Pairs)

Graham
Skate America 2025 (Pairs)
Nebelhorn 2025 (Men, Women, Pairs)
GFP Final 2024 (Men and Junior Pairs)

Rosenstein
GP Final 2025 (Pairs and Senior Men)
GP France 2025 (Men, Women, Pairs)
Kinoshita Cup 2025 (Men, Women)
Worlds 2025 (Pairs)
I'll have to check Engel... ;)
 
and I did ... at worlds, Engel liked Chock and Bates (and that's fine) and Fear and Gibson. She did like Piper and Paul better in the FD but not so much in the RD. However, I didn't check skating scores .. just the protocols... and I did that in 2 minutes not 30... she doesn't seem to have propped too much her own skaters and dealt nasties to their competitors... not in the extreme that we have seen before... I should check longer and better but that's all the energy I had for today after a long day of cooking and then traveling back to the city after visiting my folks for "xmas". (year, delayed because I was sick)
 
To think no one wanted to bid objected olympics . Duecto lack of snow , security. I read somewhere it got canceled.

Lo and behold having it
 
British Ice Dance judge will be Nicholas Russell again. You won't like it when you check his previous scores.
Spanish Ice Dance judge will be Marta Olozagarre (who judged ID in Pyeongchang 2018 and Pairs in Beijing 2022)
Russell is on my naughty list. He scores Canadians so badly each time
 
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