Kayla Harrison wins first-ever judo Olympic gold medal for the United States
So I searched the forum but didnt see any topics about this. Or any mention really. Pretty cool accomplishment.
http://www.examiner.com/article/kayl...-united-states
On Thursday, Kayla Harrison became the first American judo athlete to win gold at the Olympics Games when she won the top spot in the under-78-kilogram weight class. Harrison began practicing the sport when she was six, she said, and got serious about the sport when she was 13.
Before the Olympic Games began, Harrison took a few minutes to talk about her start in the sport via live chat. Here’s what she had to say: “I started judo when I was six years old and when I was 13 a former Olympic coach challenged me to try and make the Olympic trials. So I started fighting the senior women’s division and I started traveling all over the country nationally. I started fighting older women in order to try and get points to make the trials. They took the top five, and I actually ended up making the trials. I went in as the fifth seed, but the weight class I was in did not qualify for the Olympics. So I did not go to the Olympic trials.
“But that’s when I started training really seriously I think. I would rake up every morning before school and work out. I ran with my cross country team, I worked out with the wrestling team, I did judo. I got home from school, I did my homework in the car and I went to judo practice five days a week. And then when I was 16 I moved to Boston to train full time with the Olympic coach, Jimmy Pedro.”
Harrison still trains in Boston with Pedro today. She’s spent six years in the gym with Pedro and his father, nicknamed “Big Jim,” and she calls the two coaches the most influential people in her life, Harrison says.
“The most influential person to me in my life would definitely have to be my coaches, Jimmy and Big Jim,” Harrison said. “They’ve just been hands down the most amazing people I’ve ever ever met. They’ve changed my life in a good way.”
Harrison moved to Massachusetts and began training with Pedro after her former coach, Daniel Doyle, was convicted of sexually abusing Harrison. Doyle is currently serving a 10-year sentence after pleading guilty to the charges.
