Olympic Judo Quarterfinal Ends In Controversy When Initial Loser Is Declared Winner, Both Eventually Win Bronze Anyway

I am not going to act like I know what the hell it is I am writing about here, but this sounds pretty ridiculous. Masashi Ebinuma (Japan) and Cho Jun-Ho (South Korea) faced off in the judo quarterfinal and initially, Cho was awarded the victory.

After "golden score," which sounds like overtime, only more vague, representatives from the International Judo Federation questioned the ruling of the three officials who awarded Cho victory.

A referee and two judges at London's ExCeL Arena all raised their blue flags to indicate Cho's victory but then the International Judo Federation (IJF) intervened.

Juan Carlos Barcos, referees director, spoke with IJF chief Marius Vizer and later the judges, who then overturned the result to hand the match to Ebinuma.

Weirdly, this was not the first of the IJF's meddling. Earlier in golden score, the IJF overruled the judges award of a decisive point in favor of Ebinuma.

South Korea appealed the decision, but was not successful. It mattered little in the end as both men wound up with bronze medals (Cho is the happy one, oddly) because as with boxing, there are two bronze medals in judo. That, to me, is the most controversial thing about all of this.

Image via Getty S. Korean judoka Cho overcomes judging controversy to win bronze [Yonhap News]

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