Paris – Wearing red gives such an advantage in sport that it may need to be regulated in order to ensure that matches are fair, a team of scientists say.
Anthropologists at the University of Durham, northeastern England, looked at the outcome of contests in four disciplines in the 2004 Olympic Games – boxing, tae kwon do, Greco-Roman wrestling and freestyle wrestling – where competitors were randomly assigned red or blue outfits.
Contestants wearing red won 55 percent of the matches, compared to those wearing blue.
Out of 21 rounds in these competitions, 16 were won by those wearing red.
The red advantage prevailed across weight classes, too. Nineteen of 29 classes had more red winners than blue.
The scientists believe red is subliminally associated with aggression and male dominance, and so wearers of that colour may get a hidden advantage.
In nature, red is linked with the male hormone testosterone.
In humans, for instance, anger often causes a reddening of the skin to increased blood flow, whereas fear is associated with pallor as the body responds to an external threat.
The study, authored by Russell Hill and Robert Barton, took a peek at the Euro 2004 football tournament, in which teams wore shirts of different colours in different matches.
Teams scored more goals and had more wins when they played in red than when they played in other colours.
In sport, if factors such as strength and skill are equal, “wearing red presumably tips the balance between losing and winning”, the study says.
Colours have long been known to influence human moods, but this is the first time that they have been confirmed as a factor in sports contests.
“The implications for regulations governing sporting attire may also be important, “the authors say. “The colour of sportswear needs to be taken into account to ensure a level playing field in sport.”
The study appears on Thursday in the weekly British science journal Nature.
Wrestling Gear
