Medicine Hat boxing official Wade Peterson raises the arm of Uzbekistan boxer Bakhodir Jalolov, winner of the Men's +92kg boxing final, Aug. 10 at the Paris 2024 Olympics.--PHOTO COURTESY LAURIE PETERSON/CBC
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Wade Peterson missed out on a family reunion a few weeks ago for a good reason, he was at the Paris Olympics.
The 58-year-old Hatter worked as a boxing judge and referee, judging 52 bouts and refereeing 12. He worked two finals, the men’s 57kg and the men’s +92kg final.
While he wasn’t at the reunion, his wife Laurie took a screenshot of him working the 57kg final, cut it out and put it on a stick for family members to take photos with him. Peterson returned Sunday from the Olympics, and while he’s slowly getting used to the eight-hour time difference, the smile hasn’t worn off from the first fight of the Games.
“I couldn’t sleep all night because I had a smile on my face and was just buzzing,” Peterson said. “It’s just happy, this is the way to end my (international) career, I’ll still ref and judge but not internationally. It’s time for me to help Canadian officials get to the next level.”
It was a long road for Peterson to get his Olympics opportunity. He started reffing and judging boxing in 1987, stopping for a 10-year period from 1992 to 2002 while his kids were young. He estimates he’s worked 10,000-plus fights and looks to continue to grow boxing in the city and Alberta, serving as the president of the Medicine hat Boxing Club.
He remembers when boxing officials wore all white, “Like ice cream men,” and the introduction of computer scoring systems. His road to Paris started with getting his star certifications, getting a one-star in 2014 to work international then adding a two-star in 2017 when he started travelling more. In 2019 Peterson when to NiÅ¡, Serbia to get his third star.
From there, he worked two Olympic qualifiers in Africa (2019) and England (2020). Peterson says they didn’t have access to their phones in England so they didn’t know the world was shutting down with COVID-19. Instead, they enjoyed some fish and chips and the sights before returning to Canada two days after shutdowns began.
This year, Peterson worked three Olympic qualifiers, in Poland, Italy and Thailand. It was after the Thailand competition he learned he would get to work the Olympics, a life-changing experience he had to keep secret until he returned from the Games.
“My wife knew and my kids knew, my daughter was really funny,” Peterson said. “When I told her I was going to the Olympics, she said, ‘My friends are going to be jealous, I have the coolest dad ever.'”
Peterson was able to share the Olympics experience with a fellow Albertan, Edmontonian Jeff Verhoeven. They were two of seven officials from the Americas, a small group knocked down to five with one official falling to illness and another getting sat due to low scoring numbers. Peterson says every bout they reffed and judged was tracked by evaluators who could sanction an official for wrong calls or miscues. He received one sanction, but had another rescinded after an evaluator rewatched the fight.
The first eight days at the Olympics were a marathon, Peterson says, with the first five days containing course work to refresh them on the rules. The last six days were far more enjoyable as they had free time before working bouts at night, allowing him to see the sights in Paris.
He went to the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Arch of Triumph, while also visiting as many small shops as he could and happily taking in restaurants that served more desirable food than they had the first eight days. He climbed to the second level of the Eiffel Tower with Verhoeven on an extremely hot day. Peterson says he spent four euros ($6) on the best tasting water he’s ever had.
Peterson is proud of the fact he was able to work two finals, an achievement he says is unheard of at the Olympics and one that was met with cheers from his fellow officials when he was selected. All of the boxing officials sat in one room and were selected for their next fight while another was going on, to ensure they didn’t have enough time for any potential tampering.
He left the Games with a laundry list of memories, watching the Opening Ceremonies near the Eiffel Tower, the bus trips going from the venue to the hotel that varied lengths every night, ham sandwiches with ham as thin as paper and pizzas bigger than beachballs.
He brought home souvenir pins, pens, the Olympics branded shirts and judging clothes he was given, as well as a France and Olympic flags to hang in his man cave of a garage alongside the rest of his boxing paraphernalia. His suitcase was a little lighter than expected, with his Olympic branded shoes that had his shaver and hearing aids tucked inside being stolen at the airport.
Missing shoes aside, Peterson says his hearing aids are being replaced through insurance and he’ll buy a new shaver while he enjoys the memories of a life’s work reaching its peak.
“I’m tickled pink, my wife, everybody that supports me, we’re all just tickled pink,” Peterson said.
He credits his wife Laurie for making it possible, staying at home with the kids throughout the years as he volunteered as a boxing official while working at Goodyear and for helping him get organized and navigate the technology required to make a dream come true.
“This wouldn’t happen if it wasn’t for her,” Peterson said. “She would get on the computer, send my passport here, scan this document and send it there. I’d come in to help and she’d tell me to leave, ‘Just let me do this,’ she’d say.
“If it wasn’t for her, I would have been watching the Olympics. I never would have gotten out of Alberta.”
