Journal of Combative Sport, Jan 2001

A Statistical Analysis of National Team Scores in Olympic Judo

EJMAS Tip Jar

By Joseph R. Svinth

Copyright © 2001 Joseph R. Svinth. All rights reserved.

NOTE: For by-event results of the Sydney Olympics, see http://cbs.sportsline.com/u/olympics/2000/medaltracker/medalcount.htm. For earlier Olympics, see the "The Players," compiled by Sweden's Wolf Lyberg. Copies may be obtained by contacting Lyberg at Fax 46-8-6633096.

According to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) one isn't supposed to pay attention to overall medal counts: only the individual wins matter. But in pre-World War II judo, team scores mattered more than individual scores. So, what do the national team scores tell us about Olympic judo?

  1. Unsurprisingly, between 1964 and 2000 Japan has dominated Olympic judo.
  2. Having a strong men's team does not mean that a country has an equally strong women's team.
Supporting documentation for these assertions are presented below.
 
 

Assertion 1: Between 1964 and 2000, Japan has dominated Olympic judo

Table 1 shows the medals various countries have won in judo between 1964 and 2000.

Table 1: Judo Olympic Medal Count, 1964-2000 (Top 20 Teams)

NOTES:

  1. Men's and women's results are combined.
  2. There was no Olympic judo in 1968 and only women's results since 1992 are included.
  3. In the case of ties, ranking is in order of medal precedence.
  4. To ensure statistical consistency throughout the reporting period, the former USSR, East and West Germany, and the USA and Puerto Rico have been combined. However:
  1. The two Koreas were not combined because they were separate political entities throughout the entire reporting period.
  2. When athletes from the former Soviet Union both won bronze medals in the same weight in the same year, only one medal was counted.
Country
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Total
Rank
Japan
20
11
11
42
1
Former USSR
5
5
21
31
2
France
7
5
13
25
3
Germany (including DDR)
2
7
14
23
4
South Korea
7
11
4
22
5
Cuba
4
4
8
16
6
Great Britain
0
6
6
12
7
People's Republic of China
4
1
4
9
8
Brazil
2
2
5
9
9
Netherlands
3
0
5
8
10
USA (including Puerto Rico)
0
3
4
7
11
Belgium
0
1
6
7
12
Spain
3
1
2
6
13
Italy
2
0
4
6
14
Poland
3
0
1
4
15
Hungary
1
2
1
4
16
North Korea
1
1
2
4
17
Romania
0
0
4
4
18
Austria
2
0
1
3
19
Canada
0
1
2
3
20

 

Sorting the data solely by gold medals makes this Japanese domination even more obvious. See Table 2.
 
 

Table 2. Judo Olympic Gold Medals, 1964-2000

(Includes all medals, both men's and women's)


Country
Total
Japan
16
Former USSR
8
France
7
S. Korea
7
Germany (including DDR)
3
Poland
3
Netherlands
3
Cuba
2
Brazil
2
China
2
Spain
2
Austria
2
N. Korea
1
Hungary
1
Belgium
1
Italy
1
Switzerland
1

 

Assertion 2. Combining men's and women's results can distort understanding

Based on Olympic medal counts, the Japanese have the most dominant men's judo team in the world. See Table 3.

Table 3. Top 10 in Men's Olympic Judo, 1992-2000

Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
Rank
Japan
8
9
7
24
1
S. Korea
5
5
6
16
2
Former USSR
2
1
7
10
3
France
3
1
4
8
4
Germany
2
4
6
5
Belgium
0
1
4
5
6
Cuba
2
2
4
7
Netherlands
2
1
3
8
Brazil
1
2
3
8
China
1
2
3
8
Hungary
1
2
3
8
Great Britain
0
2
1
3
8

 

Japanese women also lead in total medals. See Table 4.
 
 

Table 4. Top 10 in Women's Olympic Judo, 1992-2000

Country Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank
Japan
2
6
7
15
1
Cuba
4
4
2
10
2
S. Korea
2
2
6
10
2
France
4
1
4
9
4
China
3
1
2
6
5
Belgium
1
1
4
6
5
Germany
0
1
4
5
7
Former USSR
0
1
3
4
8
Spain
3
0
0
3
9
N. Korea
1
0
1
2
10
Great Britain
0
1
1
2
10

 

However, compare only gold medals, and one discovers that Japanese women are not first, but instead tied for fifth. See Table 5.

Table 5. Women's Olympic Gold Medals, 1992-2000

(NOTE: Only countries with two or more medals are shown.)


Country
1992
1996
2000
Total
France
2
1
1
4
Cuba
1
1
2
4
Spain
2
0
1
3
China
1
0
2
3
S. Korea
1
1
0
2
Japan
0
1
1
2

 

Furthermore, while Japanese women did very well during the 1992 Olympics, they have not done nearly as well since. See Tables 6 and 7.

Table 6. Women's Olympic Silver Medals, 1992-2000

(NOTE: Only countries with two or more medals are shown.)

Country
1992
1996
2000
Total
Japan
3
2
1
6
Cuba
1
1
2
4
South Korea
1
1
0
2

 

Table 7. Women's Olympic Bronze Medals, 1992-2000

(NOTE: Only countries with two or more medals are shown.)

Country
1992
1996
2000
Total
Japan
3
2
2
7
South Korea
2
1
3
6
France
2
2
0
4
Germany
2
1
1
4
Belgium
1
1
2
4
Former USSR
1
2
0
3
Cuba
0
2
0
2
China
1
0
1
2

 

This suggests that Japan's lead in female judo medals is tenuous, and may fall to Cuba, France or South Korea as early as 2008.

Teams from other countries show similar patterns. For example, Cuba is not especially powerful in men's judo, but is very strong in women's. The countries of the former Soviet Union, on the other hand, are very powerful in men's judo but only average in women's.

Accordingly, whenever attempting to analyze the relative strength of national judo programs, one really should distinguish by gender.

JCS Jan 2001