Last weekend Riccione hosted a two-day technical-rule debate which saw the Judges of the Italian Race Walking Panel as protagonists.

The Head Coach of the race walking inside FIDAL National Structure (Alessandro Gandellini), together with Ruggero Sala were also present on the first day.

Saturday afternoon, after the greeting of the National Governing Body, the works were opened by Alessandro Gandellini and Ruggero Sala who presented their report aimed at making people understand the differences of views on technique and how these interface with judgement.

Then perhaps the most interesting moment took place with the sharing of a series of video clips from the easiest to the most difficult to analyze.

The audience was asked for the opinion of each judge.

The videos were then reproduced image by image at a speed equal to 1/8 of the original one and with the help of the coaches and the two Italian international judges Mara Baleani and Nicola Maggio, the real reasons for the error were explained.

The confrontation was animated and also quite heated.

To close the first day, a series of clips relating to a chief judge decision "that made history" in international race walking was projected: the case of Francisco Fernandez (ESP) and Hatem Ghoula (TUN) in the last 100m at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka.

The reasons were then explained (also with the help of a Power Point prapared in view of Beijing 2008 by the Council Member of World Athletics, Cesar Moreno Bravo, MEX) for which after the disqualification the athlete had been reinstated by the Jury of Appeal and had won the silver.

The topic, as expected, has aroused a wide debate, as indeed had also happened in Osaka 2007.

The second day began with the assessment of the 2022 season by the GTL Walking, to then move on to the report on the role of the Chief Judge and the development of issues concerning the management of walking competitions and the Penalty Zone, analyzing both case studies and real situations happened.

The works concluded with the National judges responsible greeting our colleague Nicola Maggio, who exit from the Italian operating panel of the judges at the end of the season having reached the age limit (75). A particular moment, accompanied by the applause of all those present, in which the responsible of the Judges highlighted the active contribution of our colleague in all the years in which he worked, underlining his commitment and his dedication.