The 42 year old Australian umpire Julie Ashton-Lucy received her Golden Whistle from FIH President Els van Breda Vriesman at the Olympic Games in Beijing. This followed umpiring the bronze medal match between Germany and Argentina, which was her 100th Senior international match.
Ashton-Lucy became an International Umpire in June 1995 and has been a member of the World Panel since April 2003. Beijing is her 2nd Olympic Games, following a previous appointment to the Athens event in 2004. She has also officiated at two World Cups and one Champions Trophy.
With this award Ashton-Lucy becomes the 25th Female Umpire to receive a Golden Whistle, and the 3rd Australian umpire to achieve the 100 Senior internationals milestone (after Peri Buckley and Judy Barnesby).
There was another umpiring milestone, which was that Sarah Garnett (NZL) umpired her 100th International match (i.e. Senior and Junior combined) when she officiated the AUS v GBR game for 5-6 place.
