Golden score period in high-level judo competitions: the effect of the scores and penalties at the real contest time

This study investigated the effect of scores and penalties in real contest time on the contest results in the golden score period. Of 6872 official contests at 10 different high-level competitions, 1414 contests with a golden score (21%) were included. Analyses for sex, weight category and rounds were performed with total match duration. Scores and penalties were recorded separately for real contest time and golden score period. Mutual waza-ari at real time (first 4 min) caused the high rate of matches ending with a score (p