Laois man set to judge at 2024 Olympic Games in Paris

Denis Donoghue of Portlaoise Gymnastics Club has been selected to judge at next summer’s Olympic Games in Paris. This will be his fourth Olympics to judge at and he chatted to the Leinster Express/Laois Live about how he became a judge as well as the Portlaoise Gymnastics Club which he owns and runs.

“I became an international judge in 1991 at the age of 24. Originally, I had to be invited to take the exam and then every four years I had to resit my exams. The exams could be anywhere in the world, Europe or America.

“A few months after every Olympics, we have to resit our exams because the rules change. We go somewhere in the world for a week, listen to lectures and then sit our exams at the end of the week. The exam is valid for four years. I’m known as a brevet judge,” Donoghue said.

Donoghue focuses solely on the men’s side of gymnastics with there being six events that he can judge on.

“I’m a men's artistic judge so I can only judge men. There would be a different set of rules for female gymnasts. I can judge floor, pommel, rings, vault, hi-bars and parallel bars events, the stuff that you see on the TV. Men judge men and women judge women, that’s the way it’s always been. In the last two cycles, we’ve had a woman as the top judge and like that there are men judging women as well. That’s been a nice change over the last eight years or so. We can judge Irish competitors but not in finals. You’re allowed to judge them in qualification but when it comes to a final, the judging panel has to be neutral,” he said.

He also describes what a judging panel consists of and how you go about making it onto the Olympics stage.

“A judging panel consists of seven e-judges, which stands for execution. They’re judged on how well their routine was performed if there were bent legs or legs apart. There are also two d-judges, they judge the difficulty of the routine. 

“In order to be picked for the Olympics, our scores are evaluated. We put our scores into a computer into what’s called JEP, the Judges Evaluation Programme. From this, the men’s technical committee of the Federation of International Gymnastics chose the top 42 judges after four years to take part in the Olympics,” he said.

"They also look to see if you were biased or they’d check to see what scores I’d give Great Britain because they're our nearest neighbours. Any sort of bias is a red flag and it’s a big negative against you. With seven judges on the panel, the top two and the bottom two are excluded so it’s the average of the middle three. They look to see where your score matches up with the average of the panel. At the end of every competition, you’re given a score based on this,” he said.

This will be Denis’ fourth Olympics to attend with his first one coming in 2012 with the London Olympics.

“I started in London 2012 and have gone on to do Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 (this ended up taking place in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic). We’re the same as any athlete I suppose and to get to judge at the Olympics, it’s the pinnacle of your career. Everyone wants to judge at the Olympics, it’s the biggest sporting event on the planet. To be part of the Opening Ceremony and to just take in the atmosphere of it all, it’s just amazing because it’s the best competition that there is. 

“For the Tokyo Olympics, we had to stay in our hotel for two and a half weeks due to all the Covid rules. It’ll be great to experience the Olympics where we’re allowed outside of our hotel. We have Rhys McClenaghan competing in Gymnastics and to just be part of the whole team and the experience it’s the peak of anyone’s career irrespective of whether they’re an athlete or a judge,” he said.

Donoghue was rewarded for his dedication to the cause as he describes the award he recently received from the body which runs gymnastics.

“This summer I was presented with a Gold Judge Award from the Federation of International Gymnastics which was a great honour. A Gold Judge Award is given to judges who have judged on the international circuit for at least 16 years. You also must have judged at five World Championships or Olympic Games and without any sanctions. It was a lovely honour and it’s nice to be recognised by your international body,” he said.

Along with being an international judge, Denis also owns and runs the Portlaoise Gymnastics Club where the club has grown massively since its inception in 2013.

“The Portlaoise Gymnastics Club is based in Lismard Business Park. We open seven days a week and it’s been in operation for the last 10 years, we have over 500 members. We have six pieces of men’s gymnastics; floor, pommel, rings, vault, hi-bars, parallel bars and four pieces of women’s gymnastics; floor, vault, asymmetric bars and the beam. It’s open to all ages, we start them from the age of 3 with our oldest competitor being a 21-year old female gymnast. I have three full-time staff members and myself while I rely a lot on part-time staff as well. These are usually TY students and Leaving Cert students, we get them onto a course and get them qualified which means they can come back at the weekends and coach the kids. The club is going very well, it’s a lot of work and commitment from the coaches.

“We run a schools programme as well where we teach gymnastics in schools on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. We bring the equipment and teach gymnastics in the schools all year-round. 

“We get national awards every year at the national championships and at last year’s championship we got 30 medals between the girls and boys which was fantastic. This year, we have Lauren Kelly on the National Development Squad which is a first for the club and shows the standard is rising within the club. It’s a wonderful achievement for her and the club as a whole,” he added.