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Photos:
Images from the official video of the
2002 Games in Jerez:
Farbenfroh's passage,
with
scores beside him.
Invasor's pirouette, also
with scores displayed. Jerez
marked one of the first widely
available transparent videos.
Dressage un Ltd. photos
Nadine Capellmann on Farbenfroh
shown scoring 8s and 9s for the
canter half-pass.
Ulla Salzgeber on Rusty (shown at
Jerez scoring two 10s for one-tempis)
might have placed differently at the
2000 Olympic Games had the three-
rider rule been in effect.
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Once upon a time, referees and judges made decisions based on
split-second observations, without the benefit of videotape
technology. Then instant replay was invented. Decisions of
all kinds -- especially controversial calls -- could be examined under
the microscope. Did that basketball player actually put a toe
beyond the foul line? Which race horse's nose crossed the finish
line first? Had an ice skater's arm dropped slightly out of
position during a spin? Occasionally a referee or a judge
squirmed as the spotlight illuminated a poor decision.
Generally, however, sports and sports players benefitted from advances
in video technology.
At the Games in Rome in 1960, every dressage performance was
filmed. It took two days for the three judges to arrive at a
final score for the Grand Prix. The judges were chosen from
countries not competing -- Netherlands, France and Chile. Eleven
countries, with 17 riders competed in dressage, no country having more
than two riders. The Grand Prix test was ridden once by all
competitors and the top five rode it a second time for the Individual
Medals. This is the only time that video has been used to aid,
rather than simply record, dressage judging.
What
is Transparent Video?
The classical nature of dressage combines with its inherently artistic
-- and therefore, subjective -- aspect to discourage technological
scrutiny. Organizers of blockbuster sports such as football and
soccer accept new technologies without a blink, focusing their
energies on aggressive pursuit of TV coverage. Meanwhile, the
relatively small world of dressage is still fighting to get basic
airtime on cable.
The
advent of the transparent dressage video -- a video which shows the
judges' marks movement by movement during the performances -- makes
dressage understandable even for the non-dressage audience. This
is absolutely crucial if the discipline's competitions are ever to
gain significant television appeal and large corporate
sponsorships.
continued
on page 2
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