#Event Description & Format - Judo#
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Judo will make its ninth Olympic appearance, but just the
fourth for women. 

There are seven weight classes for men and women: extra
lightweight, half lightweight, lightweight, half middleweight,
middleweight, half heavyweight and heavyweight, which range from
132 1/4-220 1/2 pounds for men and 106-172 pounds for women. 

A judo match lasts five minutes for men and four for women. 

The object of judo is to score a full point of technical
superiority, or ippon, during a five-minute match for men and
four-minute match for women. 

An ippon is scored by a clean and forceful throw -- 
by holding the opponent mainly on his back for 30 seconds, under
control but not necessarily immobile, or by submission to a
strangle, a choke or a lock applied against the elbow.

Waza-ari is scored by a throw not quite good enough for ippon or
by a 25-second hold-down.  Yuko and koka cam be scored for
inferior throws or by 20 and 10-second hold-downs, respectively.

A second waza-ari in a match counts as an ippon, but any amount
of yukos is inferior to one waza-ari and any amount of kokas is
inferior to one yuko.

If opponents are tied in all scoring after five minutes, a
sudden-death "Golden Score" overtime begins.

A competition for each weight class is held on one day from
August 14-20 at Ano Liossia Olympic Hall.
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