THIS summer’s Olympic extravaganza will have a West Fife man on the bell as boxing stars go for gold.

As competitors from around the globe step into the ring seeking Tokyo glory, Andy Caulfield, from Blairforge, will be in position to ensure events run smoothly in his capacity as a technical official at the Games.

It will be the second time that Andy, a former Scottish international light-heavyweight originally from Lochore, has been involved at the Olympics, having been a referee at London 2012.

Following problems experienced with the standard of refereeing by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Rio five years ago, a revamp of how officials would be recruited this time around was carried out.

That has led to Andy, who boxed for Scotland at the 1990 Commonwealth Games and went on to officiate at Delhi, in 2010, and at Glasgow 2014, being asked to play his part in improving standards this summer.

“After the London experience, I didn’t think I would be back at an Olympics event, but I was delighted to be asked to help the Olympic authorities with their aim to increase refereeing standards for Tokyo,” Andy commented.

“It has seen me build up plenty of air miles but I have been able to work with many talented people who will, I am sure, do well at the Tokyo Games and give the fighters confidence that the refereeing and judging will be of a very high standard.”

The boxing competition began on Saturday and, in preparation for the Games, Andy travelled to a variety of countries to help hone the skills of their officials – and has met some legends of the sport along the way.

“In Russia, I was fortunate to meet former world lightweight champion, Roberto Duran, and I also had the opportunity to come across former world heavyweight champ Evander Holyfield, both really tremendous guys,” he continued.

“While Tokyo will be a very different experience from my time at the London Olympics, it will be very special.

“With COVID having again hit Japan, there will be no crowds at events but the boxers will be doing their utmost to win gold and I expect the boxing competition to be of a high standard.”

Andy will hold seminars to help referees and judges prepare, while evaluating their performance and offering advice to improve their decision-making.