Olympic Qualification Points on the Line at Senior Pan Ams This Weekend in Rio de Janeiro

(Colorado Springs, CO) – The city that was the home of the Olympic Games eight years ago will find itself a make or break location for athletes competing at the Senior Pan American-Oceania Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from April 26-27.

2024 Senior Pan Am-Oceania Championships Live Stream and Results

Competition will be held at Carioca Arena 1 – the venue that was home to basketball during the Rio Games.

Eighteen athletes have been named to the U.S. team that will travel to Brazil to fight for qualification points for the Paris Olympic Games this summer.

Competition schedule is as follows:

Friday, April 26
Men’s 60 kg, 66 kg, 73 kg
Women’s 48 kg, 52 kg, 57 kg

Saturday, April 27
Men’s 81 kg, 90 kg, 100 kg, +100 kg
Women’s 63 kg, 70 kg, 78 kg, +78 kg

Preliminary rounds begin daily at 10 a.m. with finals at 4 p.m.

Worth 700 points on the Olympic and World Ranking Lists, the Pan Am-Oceania Championships are equivalent to a Grand Prix event on the World Tour and expected to be an opportunity for athletes throughout the region to move up the ranking lists as they attempt to secure a position among the top 17 on the filtered Olympic Ranking Lists before June 25.

Currently Team USA has two athletes ranked among the top 17 and several just outside the top 17 in the position to earn a continental quota the top athlete in the region.

Since beginning to represent the United States in 2022, Maria Laborde (Kenosha, WI / NYAC / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center) has become one of Team USA’s most consistent athletes on the World Tour. The two-time Senior World medalist for Cuba walked away from the sport for nearly eight years, but is now ranked No. 9 at 48 kg on the filtered Olympic Ranking List, winning back-to-back bronze medals at the 2022 and 2023 Senior Pan Ams as well as silver at the 2023 World Masters.

Twenty-year-old Jack Yonezuka (West Long Branch, NJ / NYAC / Cranford JKC) holds the No. 16 position on the filtered ORL in the 73 kg division. The first U.S. man to win two medals at the Junior World Championships earned bronze at the Upper Austria Grand Prix in March to claim his first Grand Prix podium finish and is looking to score his first Senior Pan Am Championship medal in Rio after a fifth-place result in 2023.

Two-time Olympian Angelica Delgado (Miami, FL / NYAC / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center) fell just outside the top 17 on the Olympic Ranking List in the 52 kg division and currently holds the continental quota position for Team USA. However, Delgado has been one of Team USA’s most consistent athletes at the Senior Pan Ams, winning five silver and three bronze medals and is aiming to bring her ranking back into the top 17 with another return to the podium.

Several athletes remain within striking distance of Olympic qualification, holding positions among the top 30 on the filtered Olympic Ranking List of their divisions, including:

• John Jayne (Chicago, IL / 90 kg), two-time Senior Pan Am-Oceania Championships bronze medalist
• Mariah Holguin (San Antonio, Texas / Universal Judo / 57 kg), 2022 Senior Pan Am-Oceania Championships bronze medalist
• Hannah Martin (Burnt Hills, NY / NYAC / 63 kg), four-time Senior Pan Am Championships medalist

Team USA also includes x past medalists from the Senior Pan Am Championships and Games aiming to return to the podium:

• Nate Keeve (San Rafael, CA / NYAC / 100 kg), two-time Senior Pan Am Championships bronze medalist
• Alexander Knauf (Yorkville, IL / NYAC / 90 kg), 2023 Pan Am Games bronze medalist
• Ari Berliner (Schenectady, NY / NYAC / Jason Morris Judo Center / 66 kg), 2022 Senior Pan Am Championships bronze medalist

The complete athlete roster is as follows:

Women’s 48 kg
Maria Laborde (Kenosha, WI / NYAC / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center)
Anne Suzuki (San Jose, CA / San Jose State University Judo)

Men’s 60 kg
David Terao (Fairfax, VA)

Women’s 52 kg
Angelica Delgado (Miami, FL / NYAC / Ki-Itsu-Si National Training Center)
Jenna Schurr (Torrance, CA)

Men’s 66 kg
Ari Berliner (Schenectady, NY / NYAC / Jason Morris Judo Center)

Women’s 57 kg
Mariah Holguin (San Antonio, Texas / Universal Judo)

Men’s 73 kg
Jack Yonezuka (West Long Branch, NY / NYAC / Cranford JKC)

Women’s 63 kg
Hannah Martin (Burnt Hills, NY / NYAC)
Sara Golden (Crystal Lake, IL / USA Judo National Resident Training Center Team)

Men’s 81 kg
Nick Yonezuka (West Long Branch, NY / NYAC / Cranford JKC)
Kell Berliner (Schenectady, NY / Jason Morris Judo Center)

Women’s 70 kg
Melissa Myers (Burnt Hills, NY / Jason Morris Judo Center)

Men’s 90 kg
John Jayne (Chicago, IL)
Alex Knauf (Yorkville, IL / NYAC)

Women’s 78 kg
Nicole Stout (Schenectady, NY / Jason Morris Judo Center)

Men’s 100 kg
Nate Keeve (San Rafael, CA / NYAC)

Men’s +100 kg
Philip Horiuchi (West Covina, CA / Los Angeles Tenri Judo Dojo)