Golden score is the overtime in judo: when regular time ends with equal technical scores, the contest goes on with no time limit until someone scores. There is no draw in modern judo competition, so every contest produces a winner.
- In judo: overtime with no time limit; scores and shido from regular time carry over.
- Ends: first technical score, hansoku-make or withdrawal.
- In BJJ: no golden score under IBJJF rules; a level match goes to advantages, penalties and then a referee decision.
How does golden score work in judo?
Under the IJF Refereeing Rules, the referee calls sore-made, the athletes return to their marks, and hajime restarts the contest with no rest. Any scores and shido from regular time stay on the board. Shido do not count toward the trigger: a contest with equal technical scores goes to golden score regardless of the number of shido given.
Golden score ends with the first yuko, waza-ari or ippon, with a hansoku-make, direct or from a third shido, or when one athlete withdraws. A pin that starts in golden score ends the contest after five seconds, as yuko.
How long can golden score last?
There is no time limit. If both athletes score at the same moment, the referee calls mate and neither action counts.
How were tied judo matches decided before golden score?
Judo did not always have a clean way to break a tie. The judoinfo.com history of Masahiko Kimura describes finals that went to "three overtimes" and were then decided by judges, a semi-final draw settled "by a coin flip", and a championship final in which, after three overtimes with neither man scoring a waza-ari, the referee "declared both of them champions". The terms list still carries hiki-wake, "no decision, tie or draw", and yusei gachi, "win by judge's decision". Golden score replaced all of that with a single rule: first to score wins.
Is there golden score in BJJ?
IBJJF matches end when time runs out, and a level match is settled by advantages, then penalties, then the referee's decision. Some invitational no-gi events use overtime rounds of their own design. Judo's golden score is simpler: more time, same rules, first score takes it.
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Sources
- History of Masahiko Kimura, JudoInfo
- Terms list, JudoInfo
- IJF Refereeing Rules, International Judo Federation
Related terms
Ippon, Waza-ari, Shido, Advantage (IBJJF), Contest, Referee calls.