Russia Uses AI to Judge a National-Level Sports Competition for the First Time
At the Russian Weightlifting Championships, artificial intelligence was used as an additional tool for analyzing athletes’ performances. The system helped track technical movement parameters and assess whether exercises were performed correctly, reducing the risk of errors in judging decisions.
The judging support system was developed by Sberbank’s Sber AI team in partnership with the Russian Weightlifting Federation. The product was used for the first time at a federal championship, and the Federation will continue using it after the competition.
The System Builds a Digital Skeleton
Everything judges previously assessed subjectively – limb positions, movement trajectories, the stability of the final position and individual signs of technical violations – can now be analyzed by artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, the system works with competition video. Using computer vision, it identifies key points on an athlete’s body, builds a digital skeleton, tracks movements and calculates performance parameters while accounting for the individual engagement and fixation of the shoulder, elbow and knee joints.
AI does not eliminate disputed situations, but it gives judges additional material to support fair decisions. The setup is similar to the VAR system in soccer: AI does not replace judges or deliver a final verdict. Instead, it provides additional objective data for reviewing an incident.
Avoiding Errors
Weightlifting is one of the sports in which the final decision depends on assessments by several officials, and judging errors can directly affect the outcome of a competition. According to the developers, using AI can help reduce subjectivity.
The use of computer-vision and data-analysis algorithms shows Russian sports moving toward broader adoption of digital technologies. The technology can make performance assessments more objective, increase athletes’ and spectators’ confidence in competitions, and create digital infrastructure for monitoring the quality of judging.
“The introduction of an AI judging support system is an important step in advancing sports. Our goal is to make the competition process even more transparent, modern and understandable. Artificial intelligence does not replace the professional judgment of the judging panel. Instead, it becomes an additional tool that provides data quickly and helps improve the quality of decisions. This is not a one-off technology experiment but the beginning of systematic work that can help establish new standards for judging – first at Russian competitions and, eventually, on the international stage,” said Dmitry Khomyakov, secretary general of the Russian Weightlifting Federation, underscoring the scale of the project.
New Standards for Sports Management
AI-based sports analytics has been developing in Russia for several years, with AI particularly widely used to analyze soccer competitions. Experts are also discussing the need to use AI in speed skating and figure skating, including to improve the accuracy of judging complex technical elements.
The use of artificial intelligence to judge the Russian Weightlifting Championships marks a shift toward a digital model for managing sports competitions in Russia. The technology’s main benefit is that it can improve the quality of decisions by analyzing large volumes of data and objectively recording athletes’ actions.
This is the first experience with AI-assisted judging at the federal level. More deployments will follow in other sports. Sberbank will continue developing the system with the Russian Weightlifting Federation and sports experts, expanding the use of AI technologies to support judging. In the future, similar solutions could become a standard part of international sporting competitions.
