Since his duties are built heavily around technical issues, when asked to work on our end-of-day technical analysis, the answer appeared instantly, “Of my job or the actions?" Well, how about both?
In Tbilisi, Mr Veir is overseeing the live stream and the IT side of things at the venue. He went on to say, “The most important thing for us right now is to make sure we provide a consistent service. Currently, it differs from one event to another, especially in quality. One of the main reasons is often the changes in quality of equipment in each country we are visiting. They have different staff and experience too, as some nations are more used to hosting IJF World Judo Tour events, for example, while others aren’t. It is our main aim to create consistency on the IBSA tour, which should elevate the number of users as well as, potentially, and attract sponsors too.”
He's one of the closest people to the tatami but it can be tough to keep up with everything going on, especially with his laser focus on making sure the tournament runs smoothly but Mr Veir makes sure he gets to see the live action, especially if some of his favourite athletes are competing. What did you think of the judo today?
“It's so inspiring to see VI athletes fighting for every last point to make it to the Paris 2024 Paralympics! There were some amazing throws through the day but I was even more impressed by the quality of the ne-waza actions. With a growing focus and interest in Para judo in general, I think we can expect a big growth of popularity in this area of judo.
I still remember the first time I saw VI judo, back in 2022. I was blown away by the emotions and the strongest memory I have is a TUR-UZB final contest. We had a full audience, a standing ovation for the judoka. I remember looking at them and realising that most of them couldn't visually embrace what we had just witnessed, which had left a strong impact on me. This is why I really love working on IBSA events.”
Photos © Zakaria Chelidze