Video replay technology will be used at the Olympic judo competition for the first time in an effort to eradicate judging controversies. The sport has suffered from scandals in the past due to the sometimes difficult nature of scoring a bout. The most notorious case was the men’s heavyweight final in Sydney 2000 when Frenchman David Douillet defeated Japan’s Shinichi Shinohara. But now International Judo Federation Refereeing Director Juan Carlos Barcos says such incidents will be eliminated. “Sydney was the past but unfortunately this situation brought too much controversy to judo,” he said. “That’s why we (use technology to) evalute and make a fair decision. I don’t think it can happen (again) but you never know.” In the Sydney final, the blue riband event, and one between a legend of the sport in Douillet and the representative from the most successful country and founders of the martial art, the result went the wrong way.
