USA Judo Makes History in Rio

From USA Judo:

Team USA put on a show in Rio; With a Gold, Silver and a 7^th Place win, USA ranked 5^th overall at the Judo Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  Click here to watch replays of Olympic judo action.

“It’s amazing the success that USA Judo athletes have enjoyed these last two Olympic Games; to finish 5^th in the world, beating Brazil in Brazil, as well as Cuba’s well respected Judo program, speaks to the smart planning and return on investment of our National coaches.” – Jose Rodriguez, USA Judo CEO.

The 2016 team represented the United States well, giving their best Olympic performance to date.

“We shocked and impressed the entire world once again with our judo team.” Says Jimmy Pedro. “I didn’t think we would be able to outdo our performance in London. To have two athletes make the finals in the Olympic games in absolutely amazing.”

Head Coach, Jimmy Pedro is pleased with how the team came together in Rio. “They acted as a family. They won together. They lost together. The entire team was competitive in every match. The team put up a good fight. They were courageous and excited to be here. The whole team is happy.” Says Jimmy Pedro.

Jose Rodriguez, who has been CEO at USA Judo for 11 years, is excited with how much the entire team and staff has accomplished the past two quadrennials.

“I want to not only congratulate Kayla, Travis, and their coaches, but each and every one of our athletes whose strong shoulders our Olympic medalist have been carried!” Says Jose Rodriguez. “This is a Team USA Judo success and every member shares in this historic success.”

Not only did the athletes make history with their performance, judo in the United States was represented in the media as never before. For the first time, Judo received LIVE TV coverage.

All Judo competitions were available to watch on NBC live stream. Both Travis Stevens and Kayla Harrison’s matches were broadcasted on LIVE TV on NBC Sports Network and MSNBC.

Additionally, Leo White, USA Judo Coach Director on the Board of Directors, was invited to commentate on NBC Sports Network. See his judo recap story here:http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/leo-white-kayla-harrison-has-historic-day-rio

Overall, this was great success for Judo in the United States. Great work Team USA!

 

Olympic Judo Schedule – Better Link

Click here for a better link with a more detailed Olympic Judo schedule.

Click here for live information including Contest Sheets.

Each day will be broken up into two sessions. The first session will feature preliminary matches in both weight classes, all the way up through the quarterfinals. Competition will take place on two mats, and NBCOlympics.com will have dedicated live streams for each mat.

The final block will feature repechage matches, semifinals, Bronze Medal Matches and Gold Medal Matches.

Daily schedule
Prelims: 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. ET
Finals: 2:30 p.m. – 5:10 p.m. ET

Schedule by weight class & Live stream links

Day 1 (Aug. 6): women’s 48kg, men’s 60kg
Day 1 (Aug. 6): Prelims: Mat 1 | Mat 2 | Medal Matches

Day 2 (Aug. 7): women’s 52kg, men’s 66kg    Angelica Delgado
Day 2 (Aug. 7): Prelims: Mat 1 | Mat 2 | Medal Matches

Day 3 (Aug. 8): women’s 57kg, men’s 73k     Marti Malloy, Nicholas Delpopolo
Day 3 (Aug. 8): Prelims: Mat 1 | Mat 2 | Medal Matches

Day 4 (Aug. 9): women’s 63kg, men’s 81kg    Travis Stevens
Day 4 (Aug. 9): Prelims: Mat 1 | Mat 2 | Medal Matches

Day 5 (Aug. 10): women’s 70kg, men’s 90kg   Colton Brown
Day 5 (Aug. 10): Prelims: Mat 1 | Mat 2 | Medal Matches

Day 6 (Aug. 11): women’s 78kg, men’s 100kg   Kayla Harrison
Day 6 (Aug. 11): Prelims: Mat 1 | Mat 2 | Medal Matches

Day 7 (Aug. 12): women’s 78+kg, men’s 100+kg
Day 7 (Aug. 12): Prelims: Mat 1 | Mat 2 | Medal Matches

 

Olympic Judo Schedule – Starts 9am August 6

Olympic Judo starts today, August 6, at 9 am.

Click here for the schedule and live streaming.

Click here for a better schedule

Team USA’s Myles Porter Takes Silver at Paralympic Games in London

From USA Judo, September 1, 2012 – Team USA’s Myles Porter will bring home the silver medal after a hard-fought day at the Paralympic Games in London.

Porter, 100 kg (U.S. Olympic Training Center, Colorado Springs, CO) began hisclimb defeating Japan’s Aramitsu Kitazono. Myles had a bye the first round. Kitazono had just defeated Cuba’s Juan Cortada Burmudez. Myles defeated Japan in just four seconds with a foot sweep.

In his next match, Porter demonstrated superior strength and stamina besting Russian opponent, Vladimir Fedin, who clearly tired through this match. Early on, the Russian picked up a yuko on a labored drop seoi nage. Porter, though, maintained extraordinary pressure on Fedin, firing foot sweeps and sacrifice throws over and over, peppered with armbar attempts until, finally, the Russian was penalized. With about a minute left, Porter picked up a wazari on penalties against Fedin that would carry him to victory.

That put Porter in the finals against Gwang-Geun Choi of South Korea. There,Myles and his coach, Eddie Liddie, said Porter made a fleeting mistake.

Paralympic Video Archive

Click here for the full archived video library of the 2012 Paralympics

Team USA is … ON … A … ROLL IN LONDON!!!

Team USA’s Myles Porter, 100 kg, ADVANCES TO THE FINAL GOLD MEDAL MATCH at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London!!!
Porter just defeated Russian Vladimir Fedin to face-off against Gwang-Geun Choi of South Korea. That match is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. London time (2:10 p.m. EST).Porter’s teammate, Dartanyon Crockett, 90 kg, just advanced to the BRONZE match, also scheduled to begin any minute now.

Watch the action LIVE at YouTube ParalympicSportTV or http://www.paralympic.org/
Follow live brackets at IPPON.ORG.
See the schedule at http://www.london2012.com/paralympics/judo/

Watch replays: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6KX88KxKRM

Dartanyon Crockett, 90 kg (U.S. Olympic Training Center, Colorado Springs, CO) just defeated Roberto Santos of Brazil to fight for BRONZE!

ESPN In London To Continue Documentary on Dartanyon Crockett

From USA  Judo:

The ESPN documentary began with a question: “Through it all, what would you do for a friend?”

What Dartanyon Crockett did for his friend was to physically carry him wherever he needed to go.

Crockett is legally blind. His best friend, Leroy Sutton, was an amputee. They both were wrestlers at their urban Cleveland high school and Crockett carried Sutton on his back virtually everywhere: onto the bus in the mornings for school and to the edge of the mat at every competition. See the YouTube film, “High School Teammates and Wrestlers Carry On,” below:

ESPN captured the story in a documentary and, led by producer Lisa Fenn, is in London to journal more of Crockett’s amazing journey. Crockett and Sutton remain great friends but have each gone their own way. Nearly a week ago Crockett stepped off a plane in London to represent his country at the 2012 Paralympic Games.

Click here for full story.

– Story by Ernest Pund, USA Judo Communications

Team USA’s Ron Hawthorne Takes 7th at Paralympics On First Day of Judo Competition

August 30, 2012 – Ron Hawthorne (U.S. Olympic Training Center, Colorado Springs, CO) finished 7th today in the 60kg division at the Paralympic Games in London, a great start for Team USA on this, the first of 3 days of competition.Hawthorne started out strong, defeating Ihor Zasyadkovych (UKR) with de ashi harai (foot sweep) for ippon.  In the quarter finals, Ron was pinned by eventual silver medalist,  Xiaodong Li (CHN). This put Ron into the repechage where he faced defending world and European Champion, Ben Quilter. With the crowd loudly and enthusiastically on Quilter’s side, Ron pressed the match, fighting hard against Quilter’s aggressive gripping.  Unfortunately, Ron was pinned midway through the match, ending his first Paralympic experience. Quilter went on to win a bronze medal. Said coach Scott Moore, “Ron started the day strong with a decisive win against a tough competitor, but ran into some tough competition in the later rounds. We are very proud of his performance and 7th place finish. I look forward to continuing to work with Ron and seeing him on the podium in 2016.”

Click here for the complete story.

Click here to view Judo video from the 2012 Paralympics

Robert Fukuda Family Olympic Fund Closing Report

On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Michigan Judo Development Association, Inc., I am pleased to report the success of this fund raising effort. The purpose of the fund was to assist Robert Fukuda’s wife and mother to attend the Olympics in London to watch him on the mat, refereeing.

Thanks to the help of over 50 contributors, in just one month, we raised $6185.00, well over our goal of $3500.00. Contributors are listed on the attached list. For MJDA, this is one of the most successful funding campaigns ever.

Support came from across the American judo community, from members of all three national organizations. Many donations were accompanied by very touching words of affection and respect for Robert’s dedication to judo and his embodiment of the ideals of our sport. A letter of thanks from Robert, with photos from London, is attached.

Special thanks to Robert’s colleagues in the judo referee community, who gave generously, in addition to their ongoing contribution of their time to refereeing and their continual encouragement and support for Robert.

Thanks to the Executive Committees of the USJF and Konan Judo Association for permitting announcement of the Fund on their websites. Without that publicity we would not have succeeded.

Although the fund is now officially closed, donations have continued, and will be forwarded to Robert.

Thank you for your support.

Pete Catlos
Board Member
Michigan Judo Development Inc.

Marti & Kayla on FoxTV

Click here to view interview.