In this article I demonstrate the importance of the top 8 seeding position for an athletes to win a medal the at the Judo Olympics.
I analysed the 2012 London and the 2016 Rio Olympics and come to the following conclusion:
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- Chances to win an Olympic medal for an athlete seeded in the top 8: 40.6 %
- Chances to win an Olympic medal for an athlete not seeded in the top 8: 3.8 %
- A top 8 seeded player has 10.69 times bigger chance to win an Olympic medal than a non-top 8 seeded player.
This is why I introduce the “Rule of the Golden Eight” which states that it is essential for a Judoka to be seeded in the top 8 in order to have a realistic chance to win a medal.
The article shows all the statistics gathered in order to come to the above conclusion. It contains all the results from the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Judo Olympic Games.
It shows how the “Rule” applies to every category and outlines possible explanations for why it is so important to be seeded in the top 8 at Olympic Games of the modern times.