IRO Judges WCH 2026
Supervising judge
JERNEJA TERNOVEC (SI)
has been active in the sport of search and rescue since 1995. She has been a rescue dog trainer since 2003, a national rescue dog judge since 2006 and an international IRO performance judge since 2008. She is an active dog handler and trainer, and is currently Spokesperson for Training and Judges in the IRO board.
Main judge OB/DX
Daniel Sedlak (CZ)
has been active in SAR dog work since 1990 and has gained lots of experience at numerous national and international search operations. In 2000 he was appointed International IRO Judge and is also part of the IRO Classifier team.
Co-judge OB/DX
Taewon Lee (KR)
has been an active dog handler since 1985. Since 2013, he has been an IRO judge and also serves as a WUSV national training judge. In 2009 and 2010, he placed 10th at the WUSV World Championships. In 2023, he became first-place champion at the IRO World Championships – RH-FL.
Main judge rubble
Hannes Hiltpolt (AT)
has been an active dog handler since 1995 and recently retired. He has been an international judge for rescue dogs (FCI) since 2008 and an international IRO judge since 2015.
Co-Judge Rubble
Jantine Boerrigter (NL)
She has been active in rescue dog sports since 2000. She works full-time as a police dog handler with a specialized detection dog as well as a search and rescue dog. In 2022, she became IRO World Champion in the Avalanche division with her dog Andy. Since June 2025, she has also been an international IRO judge. In addition, she gives rescue dog training workshops upon request.
Main Judge Area
Astrid Laner (IT)
Her canine CV began as a child, as her father was an enthusiastic shepherd breeder. In 1983, she began working in the rescue dog field (area and avalanche search). Since 1985 she has taken part in numerous search operations. IRO judge since 2002. Last passed MRT 2017, as well as 3rd place at the IRO World Championship 2017 in rubble search.
Co-judge Area
Miguel de Prado García (ES)
His career as a dog handler began in 1995 in the French Army. Since 2000, he has been an active member of the Spanish SAR group UCRPA. He has participated in numerous national and international deployments, including missions in Turkey and Libya. He is also an SAR instructor in Spain, a national ANGPS judge, and a therapy dog handler.
Main judge Tracking
Co-judge Water
Margot Luukas (EE)
Involved in SAR dog work since 2008, she has served as an operational dog handler in several national search missions as well participated successfully in IRO tests and World Championships. She became an international judge in 2018 and joined the IRO international judges’ community in 2023.
Co-judge Tracking
MAin judge Water
Pavel Sabacky (CZ)
Since 1986 he has been taking part in national and international missions and won the IRO World Championship twice. He became an International IRO Judge in 2000 and since then judged a number of times at the IRO WCH. Since his retirement in autumn 2021, he is still actively involved in rescue cynology as a dog handler and judge, as well as music.