| Member News
July 9, 2007
Judo Team Leaves for Pan American Games on Friday
 (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) – The countdown to the next major Olympic qualifier begins when the USA Judo Team departs for the Pan American Games on Friday.
Fourteen athletes will compete at the Pan Am Games from July 19-22 in Rio de Janeiro. A multi-sport event, the Games include an estimated 5,500 competitors from 42 nations in more than 30 sports.
Even more important, the Games are serving as the largest of the Olympic qualifying tournaments and will represent 33% of the total of a five-event series that began with the 2006 Pan American Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina and progressed to the 2007 Pan Ams in Montreal which were held in May.
Among the athletes competing in Rio are four of the 10 medalists from the Pan Ams in Montreal which featured many of the same competitors as are expected to attend the Games.
Ryan Reser (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center / 73kg) and Valerie Gotay (Harlingen, Texas / USA Judo National Training Site at Harlingen / 57kg) are two-time gold medalists, having won the 2005 Pan Ams in Caguas, Puerto Rico as well as the Montreal event.
Reser is a three-time World Cup medalist who will be competing in his first Pan Am Games while Gotay is a veteran of the 1991 Team that fought at the Games in Havana. Gotay was a 17-year-old in 1991 when she won a silver medal in the 48kg division. After qualifying for the 1992 Olympic Team, Gotay retired, but made a comeback in 2004. At 33-years-old, is not only the team’s most experienced athletes, but she also holds one of the team’s best chances for gold.
Two-time Pan Am Champion Ronda Rousey (Wakefield, Mass. / NYAC / USA Judo National Team FORCE) moved up from 63kg to 70kg in February when she won the Vienna World Cup and placed third in Montreal after a first-round loss to Onix Cortes (CUB), also a former 63kg player, who will be one of Rousey’s toughest competitors in Rio as well.
Kirk Hoffmann (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center) won a bronze medal in the +100kg division – his second after a third place finish in 2005.
The team is being coached by Jason Morris (Glenville, N.Y.) and Israel Hernandez (Harlingen, Texas).
Both Morris and Hernandez are former Olympic medalists who also have won Pan American Games titles. Morris earned a gold medal in the 78kg division at the 1991 Games while Hernandez won the 65kg division at the 1995 Games in Mar del Plata, Argentina. The two also coached the 2007 Pan Am Championship Team that won a total of 10 medals in Montreal.
German Velazco (Coral Springs, Fla.), a 2006 Junior World Team Coach, will be serving as an assistant coach in Rio.
Team managers are Leo White (Lilburn, Ga.) and Humberto Lopez (Miami, Fla.) The referee representing the United States is Hector Estevez (Miami, Fla.)
2007 Pan American Games Team
Men
60kg: Taraje Williams-Murray (Bronx, N.Y. / NYAC / Spartak Sports Club)
66kg: Justin Flores (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center / San Shi Judo)
73kg: Ryan Reser (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center)
81kg: Travis Stevens (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center)
90kg: Rick Hawn (Wakefield, Mass. / USA Judo National Team FORCE)
100kg: Adler Volmar (Coral Springs, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami)
+100kg: Kirk Hoffmann (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center)
Women
48kg: Jeanette Rodriguez (Coral Springs, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami)
52kg: Grace Ohashi (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center)
57kg: Valerie Gotay (Harlingen, Texas / USA Judo National Training Site at Harlingen)
63kg: Marti Malloy (San Jose, Calif. / USA Judo National Training Site at San Jose State University)
70kg: Ronda Rousey (Wakefield, Mass. / USA Judo National Team FORCE)
78kg: Marina Lambert (Chesapeake, Va. / Washington Judo)
+78kg: Asma Sharif (Wakefield, Mass. / USA Judo National Team FORCE) |
