Blue and white found equal in judo:
The color of a judoka’s suit plays no part in the outcome of a match, British researchers say.
Seems pretty obvious, but earlier studies found that blue had an advantage:
Past studies had suggested that contestants in blue had an advantage because the color was more intimidating, or that the white competitor might be more visible, allowing an opponent to better anticipate his movements.However, Dijkstra said those studies did not take into account that higher seeded — and therefore more skilled — competitors wore the blue uniforms. So it made sense that they would win more often, he said.
This seemingly minor point jumped out at me:
“We focused on judo but the finding may have wider implications for sports in general,” said Peter Dijkstra, an behavioral biologist at the University of Glasgow, who led the study. “We show there is no color association for a winning bias.”
Why? Because previous studies have shown that if you want to win in sports, you should wear red.