Australian Murray Grime joined a select group of umpires when he officated his 100th international match to earn the FIH Golden Whistle last week.
Grime was presented with the award by FIH President Els van Breda Vriesman after he reached the milestone after umpiring Pakistan's 5-0 defeat of Germany at the Rabo Trophy last week (Friday, 19 August, 2005) in Amstelveen.
The FIH Golden Whistle is awarded to those umpires who have officiated 100 official senior internationals.
By reaching the 100-match milestone, Grime joins a select group to have achieved the feat.
Grime umpired his first international match at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in August 1994 at the age of 24. Appointed as an International Umpire in November 1994, he reached Grade 1 level in 1997 and was appointed to the World Panel in October 1999.
At age 35, he is the second youngest recipient of the award. The youngest man to receive the award was Spain's Santiago Deo, who was 33 when he umpired his 100th international match in 1988. Deo is one of only two men to reach the 200-match milestone.
In an impressive umpiring career, Grime has officiated at two Olympic Games, the 2002 World Cup and five Champions Trophy tournaments. The higlight came last year at the Olympic Games in Athens when he was selected to umpire the the semi final and bronze medal matches (he was ineligble for the gold medal match after Australia won through to the final).
Grime's contribution in Australia was also recognised when he was named Hockey Australia's ÔÇÿ2004 Official of the Year'.
Murray Grime
Age: 35
International Umpiring Debut: 1994
International Matches Umpired: 100
Major Tournaments:
Olympic Games
2004 Athens
2000 Sydney
World Cup
2002 Kuala Lumpur
Champions Trophy
2001 Rotterdam
1999 Brisbane
1998 Lahore
1997 Adelaide
1998 Madras
