2008 Olympic Trials Day 1 Final Results

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June 13, 2008

Rousey, Takata, Olson, Volmar and McCormick Win 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Judo

Brian Olson works an armbar in his first match against Garry St. Leger.

Olson sweeps St. Leger for ippon.

Olson does it again.

Olson picks up Coach Eddie Liddie.

Adler Volmar goes in for a throw against Brian Picklo in the 100kg division.

Daniel McCormick makes an attack against Anthony Turner at +100kg.

Taylor Takata qualifies for his first Olympic Team at 66kg.

Takata and his youngest fan.

Takata and his cheering section from Hawaii.

Ronda Rousey goes for the arm in the 70kg division.

The two-time Olympian chats with NBC.

(Las Vegas, Nev.) – For thirty-five-year-old Brian Olson (Boulder, Colo. / NYAC / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center / 90kg), his win at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Judo on Friday was more than just qualifying for his fourth Olympic Team.

“This one I think holds more meaning because I took three years off,” Olson said. “I’m 35; I was coming in as No. 3 and I had to do it the hard way. For me, this one is by far the one I will cherish the most in regards to the Olympic Trials because I had to earn every single minute of it. There was never an easy point.”

Earlier in the day, Olson defeated David Ellis (Roselle Park, N.J. / Cranford Judo) and 2007 Pan Am medalist Rick Hawn (Wakefield, Mass. / USA Judo National Team FORCE) to advance to the final against Jacob Larson (Santa Rosa, Calif. / Redwood Coast Judo Club) who he threw for ippon in the first minute.

The win forced a best-of-three fight-off with top-ranked Garry St. Leger (Brooklyn, N.Y. / NYAC / Legrosports Starrett). Olson and St. Leger were tied with a koka (smallest points) each when Olson threw St. Leger for ippon (instant win) with 11 seconds left in the match.

St. Leger came back in the next round, catching Olson off guard and throwing him in the opening minute to tie the series.

“Oh I was mad,” Olson said of having lost the second match, but he came back again with his signature footsweep to throw St. Leger for ippon.

“Not too bad for an old guy, huh? Who would’ve ever guessed it, right? The old guy could actually perform,” Olson joked.

Olson’s win qualifies the 1997 World medalist for a fourth Olympic Team at the conclusion of a nine-month comeback that began with his win at the 2007 U.S. Open in October.

“I would have never came back if I didn’t think I could win a medal in China. I never would have come back,” he said. “I don’t believe in coming back just to make the Team. I believe in coming back to fight for the one thing that has eluded me which is an Olympic medal. I have all the other medals. I figured if I don’t do it now, I’ll never do it and I don’t want to have any regrets.”

Like Olson, Adler Volmar (Coral Springs, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami) also competed at the 1996 Olympic Games. The only difference being that Volmar was representing Haiti as an 18-year-old dual citizen.

Volmar dreamed of representing the United States, however, and his dream was looking to become a reality when he climbed to #1 in the U.S. rankings in the 100kg division in 2006.

A blown knee in February, however, threatened to thwart those dreams and left Volmar out of competition from until last week when he tested the knee out with a win at a tournament in El Salvador.

“I was focused. At the time, my doctor told me six months to a year,” Volmar said. “I told him I was going to make it. I trained three to four times a day, sometimes non-stop.”

Volmar lost his first match to Brian Picklo (Mustang, Okla. / USA Stars) and watched as Picklo advanced to the finals where he defeated two-time World Team member Djamaldin Aliev (Denver, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center) in overtime.

As Volmar was the #1 ranked 100kg player, he and Picklo did a best-of-three fight-off. Volmar won the first match, but Picklo, a former All-American wrestler at Michigan State University, won the second.

In the third round, Volmar countered a throw by Picklo to win the match and a berth on the Olympic Team.

Daniel McCormick (Wakefield, Mass. / USA Judo National Team FORCE) had one of the best days of his career in the +100kg division, defeating 2004 Olympic alternate Kirk Hoffmann (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center) in the first round and beating top-ranked Anthony Turner (Miami, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami) three times on the day to win his Olympic berth.

McCormick not only won the final match against Turner, but won the next two as well, including a Golden Score last match.

“I just went out there tonight and did what I had to do. And I did it. I always expect to win whenever I walk out on a mat,” McCormick said.

This will be the first U.S. Senior Team McCormick will compete on in the +100kg division.

“It’s maybe the best feeling I have ever had. I’m so happy,” an emotional McCormick said after his final match.

Taylor Takata (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center / 66kg) knew what it was like to be the favorite at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Judo.

Leading up to 2004, Takata was a two-time Pan Am Champion in the 60kg division who was expected to represent the United States at the Athens Olympic Games. When the division didn’t qualify for the Olympics, however, Takata moved up to 66kg for the Trials where he lost to a two-time Olympian in the heavier division. Meanwhile, a slot in the 60kg division opened up shortly before Trials and Takata had to watch another player compete at the Games in his old weight.

Although Takata was the top seed at the Trials, he knew his most difficult match of the day would likely come in the semifinals against two-time World Team member Justin Flores (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center).

Flores beat Takata the only time they ever fought at the 2007 Senior Nationals, but this time Takata controlled the match, throwing Flores for a yuko (quarter-point) score to start the match. Takata was given a penalty, but threw Flores with a double leg for another score which was later waved off by the referees.

Takata clinched the match in the last 30 seconds when he threw Flores for a koka (smallest points) score and broke into a smile as he knew he had eliminated the 2004 Olympic Team alternate from the tournament.

In the final, Takata took the lead when Liggett was given a penalty for non-combattivity. Takata scored twice more with an uchimata (inner thigh throw) for a waza-ari (half-point) score and a leg pick for a yuko (quarter-point). Liggett and Takata each earned another penalty, but Takata took the match while Liggett was left scoreless.

Jeremy Liggett (Glenville, N.Y. / NYAC / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center) threw Tanner Singh (Plano, Texas / Dallas Judo) for ippon in the alternate final and will be the 66kg alternate.

For reigning 70kg World silver medalist Ronda Rousey (Wakefield, Mass. / NYAC / USA Judo National Team FORCE), qualifying for her second Olympic Team on Friday was “just another day in the office.”

“It doesn’t really compare to the last Olympics when I was so excited I was crying and everything,” Rousey said after her final match. “This was just a day in the office kind of thing. I expected to come win… I’m excited, but I’m more excited that my family’s here to see me fight.”

Rousey won all three of her matches by ippon, throwing Natalie Laursen (Livermore, Calif. / Northern California Elite Team) in the first round and pinning Jennifer Tutass (El Cerrito, Calif. / Cunningham’s Judo) in the semifinal.

In the final, Rousey armbarred Katie Sell (Oshkosh, Wis. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center) to win the match. Sell later defeated Tutass and will be the 70kg alternate.

The complete list of athletes who qualified for Beijing is as follows:

66kg: Taylor Takata (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center

Alternate: Jeremy Liggett (Glenville, N.Y. / NYAC / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center)

90kg: Brian Olson (Boulder, Colo. / NYAC / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center)

Alternate: Garry St. Leger (Brooklyn, N.Y. / NYAC / Legrosports Starrett)

100kg: Adler Volmar (Coral Springs, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami)

Alternate: Brian Picklo (Mustang, Okla. / USA Stars)

+100kg: Daniel McCormick (Wakefield, Mass. / USA Judo National Team FORCE)

Alternate: Anthony Turner (Miami, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami)

70kg: Ronda Rousey (Wakefield, Mass. / NYAC / USA Judo National Team FORCE)

Alternate: Katie Sell (Oshkosh, Wis. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center)

The United States did not qualify for the Games in the following divisions which were contested on a contingency basis. Should a slot become available, the following players would be named to the Team:

52kg: Tracy Nagai (Bellevue, Wash. / Budokan Judo)

Alternate: Mindy Chow (Honolulu, Hawaii / Hawaii Tenri)

63kg: Christal Ransom (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center)

Alternate: Paola Genao-Butler (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center)