The Athletes Commission European representative election 08/08/2022

Dear European Athletes

The Athletes Commission physical elections for a new European representative will take place from 11 August to 13 August at the German Open Championships.

The Athletes Commission will have a voting station at the check in desk at the following times:

Thursday 11/08/22
08:30-10:30
20:00 - 22:00

Friday 12/08/22
08:30-10:30
20:00 - 22:00

Saturday 13/08/22
08:30-10:30

The five candidates for this position and they are (in alphabetical order of surname):

• Ettore Bertola
• Dmitri Kolobov
• Dmitry Marchenko
• Bartlomiej Szkutnik
• Timea Töröcsik

As the WDSF is a body that is governed by Swiss law, all athletes who are 18 years of age or over are allowed to vote in this election, providing they are registered as an active WDSF Athlete in the European region; You may vote only once; You may only cast one vote; Proxy votes (voting on behalf on someone else) are not allowed; You must be 18 years or over from August 3, 2022.
You may request a voting form at [email protected]. As Athletes Commission we reserve the right to render a vote void should we suspect a vote to possibly not be cast in line with these procedures.
One of the five candidates will be elected to represent the European representative for the period of 4 years in the WDSF Athletes Commission.
Should you have any questions about the voting process, please do let us know.We are looking forward to many votes for these excellent candidates.

Thank you!

The WDSF Athletes Commission

René Ewals
Sean Smullen
Rikako Ota
Monica Korf
Patrick Rucinski
Sheldon Gilbert

Information about candidates Athletes Commission

Ettore Bertola

I am aware that, if I am elected, I will have to represent senior athletes from all over Europe: I would be happy to do so and I think I am ready.

Dmitri Kolobov 

As an active dancer I feel it is important to find the best possible cooperation to create trust and respect inside our system and to make sure that dancers’ opinions are heard. For that reason I feel that the athletes commission is a great platform for communication between the athletes and our federation. Being myself a competitor for many years I feel it’s the right time to step in and work on making a difference.

Dmitry Marchenko

I am an Athlete and a coach. At the age of 39, have 28 years of competitive dancing in a different level. On a high international level since 2002 (20 years).

For the last 20 years had visited all the famous World competitions for many times each. Most of WDSF competitions including World and European Championships and Cups as an athlete True that leaned and worked with the best teachers in World Dancesport. 2 times European Showdance finalist, World championship Showdance finalist. Top 21 in a European Latin championship. Top 25 in a World Latin championship.

As coach I have a dance sport club since 2000 with more than 50 students, National Championship finalist and medalists.

Bartłomiej Szkutnik

I am motivated by the fact that as an active dancer for 23 years I have been keenly interested in development of Dance Sport. Being for many years in tournaments, trainings and important events, I have come across the pros and cons of our Dance Sport.

Being also in connection with many athletes, I have strong idea of the current needs, threats and areas that can be developed to improve the well-being of dancers, as well to promote Dance Sport.

I danced in all categories starting with Juveniles 1 and currently competing in the Adult Standard category. As a dancer I also had the opportunity to experience dancing in Adult Standard Formation, along with which I won the title of World Champion in 2010. In Elbląg, Poland. As an active dancer together with my partner we are on 10th place in WDSF World Ranking List, Adult Standard.

As a member of Dance Sport I feel that I am a responsible, creative person with a lot of ideas how to take care of the development of WDSF from the dancer point of view. So as to disseminate and improve WDSF system as much as possible

Tímea Töröcsik

I truly believe that beside that more than 20 years of experience in the dancing world (which includes a 14^th pace at the Latin European Cup and semi-finals in World Open as well as final in WDSF International Open), my sports diplomacy and sports management studies give quite a good base and knowledge to represent the interests of the Athletes, and help the Dance Sport for an even better future.

I would like to help the relation and communication between Dancers and the Federation. My goal is to create a forum, where dancers can share their ideas, needs and opinions thus the Federation can work even better for the dancers. I would like to serve these needs and work for the future of the pure and fair Dance Sport. My aim is to be a reliable contact person in the Federation, to whom the Athletes can turn, when they need.