Earlier this year in March, the Czech Republic’s Roman Klecker was announced the first ever gold badge umpire by the International Table Tennis Federation’s Umpires and Referees Committee.

In 1995 he became a regional umpire, in 2009 he gained national status before in 2012 securing the international award; in 2014 he was bestowed the prestigious blue badge. Following the Tokyo Olympic Games, in August 2021 he topped the tree, he met the newly created gold badge requirements.

However, there is much more to Roman Klecker; he enjoys walking; some 2,000 kilometres (1,242 miles) is about par for the course!

Also, he is a humanitarian; recently, he was stationed on the Slovak – Ukraine border; alongside other volunteers, present 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Read about Roman Klecker in the second edition of the ITTF magazine…