Member News

September 6, 2007

Team USA Departs for World Championships on Sunday  

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Sixteen athletes will leave on Sunday to compete at the World Judo Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Competition at the World Championships will run from Sept. 13-16 with four divisions being contested on each day and the top six countries in each weight qualifying their slot for the 2008 Olympic Games. 

Competition schedule is as follows: 

September 13

Men’s 100kg and +100kg

Women’s 78kg and +78kg 

September 14

Men’s 81kg and 90kg

Women’s 63kg and 70kg 

September 15

Men’s 66kg and 73kg

Women’s 52kg and 57kg 

September 16

Men’s 60kg and Open

Women’s 48kg and Open 

Team USA is returning to Rio less than two months after a successful Pan American Games in which U.S. players won six medals, including two gold. 

With nine members of the squad returning to their second World Team, this year’s crew looks to have the depth and experience needed to reach the podium for the first time since Jimmy Pedro (Methuen, Mass.) won the 73kg division in 1999.  

Now retired, Pedro is the personal coach for three of the World Team athletes including Ronda Rousey (Wakefield, Mass. / NYAC / USA Judo National Team FORCE) who is considered one of the United States ’ top medal prospects.  

Rousey, a veteran of the 2004 Olympic Team, competed on the 2005 World Team as an 18-year-old in the 63kg division.  A Junior World Champion and Senior World Cup gold medalist as a middleweight, Rousey moved up to 70kg in February and has only lost two matches since (one of which was to a player who will not be competing in Rio).  Since the move she has won the Vienna World Cup and the Pan American Games.  In August she competed at the German Open, a tune-up for the Worlds and upset 2005 World Champion Edith Bosch (NED) and nearly knocked off 2004 Olympic medalist Annett Boehm (GER), both of whom are still considered to be two of the top players in the division. 

On the men’s side, the top candidate for the United States is Ryan Reser (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center).   A long-time #2 behind Pedro in the 73kg division, Reser made his own name internationally when he won silver medals at the Boras and Rotterdam World Cups in 2006.  This year Reser’s success continued with gold medal wins at both the Pan American Championships and Pan American Games, including a 60-second throw for ippon of 2004 Olympic medalist Leandro Guilheiro (BRA) that quickly became a YouTube favorite among judo fans. 

Like Reser and Rousey, Valerie Gotay (Harlingen, Texas / USA Judo National Training Site at Harlingen) is ranked in the top-10 in the world in her division at 57kg.  A 33-year-old mother of two, Gotay retired after the 1992 Olympic Games, returned to the sport in 2004 and hasn’t lost a match in the United States since the 2004 Olympic Trials.  Gotay won gold at the prestigious Belgian Ladies’ Open in February where she upset a former World Champion in the final as well as the Pan American Championships in May.  Gotay also won a silver medal at the Pan American Games.

One of the team’s youngest members, 17-year-old Jeanette Rodriguez (Coral Springs, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami) won her first senior international title in the 48kg division at the 2006 U.S. Open and has since added gold at the British Open, bronze at the Jose Ramon Rodriguez Championships in Cuba and bronze at the Pan American Games to her resume. 

Travis Stevens (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center / 81kg) is one of the most improved men on the team.  Stevens qualified for his first senior international team at the Pan Am Games and World Team Trials in April and went on to win gold at the Pan Am Games in July, defeating 2004 Olympic medalist Flavio Canto (BRA) in the semifinals. 

Justin Flores (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center / 66kg) is competing on his second World Championship Team and the 2004 Pan Am medalist has experience competing against many of the world’s top players on the European circuit where he holds three top-five finishes in World Cup events. 

A 2005 Pan Am Champion in the 52kg division, Carrie Chandler (Glenville, N.Y. / NYAC / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center / 52kg) has been plagued with injuries during the past two seasons.  After Senior Nationals, though, she underwent surgery and is looking forward to her first international competition since winning silver at the British Open in January. 

A 2004 Olympian in the 81kg division, Rick Hawn (Wakefield, Mass. / USA Judo National Team FORCE) moved up to 90kg earlier this year, winning the Senior Nationals and earning a bronze medal at the Pan Am Games. 

Taraje Williams-Murray (Bronx, N.Y. / NYAC / Spartak Sports Club) had one of the best finishes for Team USA at the 2005 World Championships, placing ninth in the 60kg division.  After fighting up to 66kg in 2006, Williams-Murray moved back down to 60kg earlier this year.   

Marti Malloy (San Jose, Calif. / USA Judo National Training Site at San Jose State University) also made a division shift this year, moving up from 57kg to 63kg where she one the Senior Nationals and placed fifth at the Pan American Games. 

Heavyweight Kirk Hoffmann (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center) will be competing on his second World Championship Team.  An alternate for the 2004 Games, the #1-ranked +100kg player in the United States won the British Open in January and placed third at the Pan American Championships in May. 

Adler Volmar (Coral Springs, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami / 100kg), a former competitor for Haiti, will be competing at his first World Championships after placing fifth at the Pan Am Championships.  

Fifteen-year-old Marina Lambert (Chesapeake , Va. / Washington Judo) is the team’s youngest athlete.  A former top-ranked junior in the 78kg division, Lambert placed fifth at the Pan American Games. 

Asma Sharif ( Wakefield , Mass. / USA Judo National Team FORCE) made one of the largest division jumps earlier this year.  On the small end of the 78kg division, Sharif moved up to women’s heavyweight and had little trouble beating the top players to win Senior Nationals and Trials. 

Heidi Moore ( Englewood , Colo. ) and Djamaldin Aliev ( Greenwood Village , Colo. ), both of Denver Judo, will be competing in the non-Olympic Open weight divisions.  World Team veterans, Moore and Aliev fought in the +78kg and 100kg divisions in 2005, respectively. 

Team USA will send a full squad of 16 players to the Worlds.  The team will be coached by Jason Morris ( Glenville , N.Y. ) and Israel Hernandez ( Harlingen , Texas ). 

The U.S. Team roster is as follows: 

Women

48kg:     Jeanette Rodriguez ( Coral Springs , Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami )

52kg:     Carrie Chandler ( Glenville , N.Y. / NYAC / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo 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. / NYAC / USA Judo National Team FORCE)

78kg:     Marina Lambert ( Chesapeake , Va. / Washington Judo)

+78kg:   Asma Sharif ( Wakefield , Mass. / USA Judo National Team FORCE)

Open:     Heidi Moore ( Englewood , Colo. / Denver Judo)  

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)

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 )

Open:      Djamaldin Aliev ( Greenwood Village , Colo. / Denver Judo)