Low Referee Standards Cause Disarray in Paris Olympics Judo

Judo, a sport that originated in Japan and has been regarded as Japan’s specialty, was the only Japanese-origin sport featured in the Paris Olympics. However, the results were a disappointment, with a total of three gold medals, two silver, and three bronze across men’s, women’s, and mixed team events. In the final day’s team competition, Japan, the host country with a judo population four times larger than Japan’s, lost to France and settled for a silver medal. This result marked a significant drop from the nine gold, two silver, and one bronze medals Japan earned at the previous Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

 

One factor contributing to this outcome was the overall increase in the level of judo competition globally. However, the results were particularly affected by numerous “judging errors.”

 

Among these, the most controversial was the quarterfinal match on the first day of the judo competition between Ryuki Nagayama (28) of Japan and Francisco Gállegos (29) of Spain in the men’s 60 kg category. 

As the ground fighting stalemated, the main referee, Elizabeth Gonzalez (37) from Mexico, called for a “halt.” However, Gállegos continued applying a choke hold for several seconds, resulting in Nagayama losing consciousness and being defeated by ippon.