(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Team USA arrived in Agadir, Morocco on Tuesday in preparation for competition at the Junior World Championships that will begin on Thursday and continue through Sunday. 

The 29-person team includes six veterans of past Junior and Senior World Teams. 

One of the U.S. squad’s top medal hopefuls is 16-year-old Katelyn Bouyssou (Hope, R.I. / NYAC / Mayo Quanchi Judo Club).  Although Bouyssou remains one of the team’s youngest members, she is the team’s most experienced competitor.  A two-time member of both Junior and Senior World Teams, Bouyssou won gold at the first-ever Youth Olympic Games in August – a feat she followed with a silver medal performance at the USA World Cup just days later. 

One of Bouyssou’s teammates on the 2009 Senior World Team, Kayla Chappell (Oklahoma City, Okla. / USA Stars) placed fifth at the Senior Pan American Championships as a 52kg player last year.  Although Chappell moved up to 63kg after the 2009 Worlds, she dropped back to 57kg to win the National Junior Olympic Championships in July.  Competing at her first Junior Worlds, Chappell is taking a break from Oklahoma City University where the freshman recently began her first season as a wrestler.  

Eighteen-year-old Kyle Taketa (Torrance, Calif. / Gardena Judo) went 2-1 at the 2009 Junior Worlds, but has continued to improve this year, winning bronze in the 66kg division at the Senior Nationals in April and gold at the Pan American U20 Championships last month.

Two-time Junior World Team member Colton Brown (San Jose, Calif. / USA Judo National Training Site at San Jose State University) also medaled at the Senior Nationals where he won a silver in the 90kg division.  Brown won gold at the Pan Am U20 event as well and is aiming to place at the Junior Worlds in his last year of eligibility.

Andrew Porras (Hialeah, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at South Florida) is returning to the 73kg division for his first second Junior World Championship in the 73kg division.  Porras has been undefeated in junior competition this year, sweeping golds at the Youth and Scholastic, Junior Olympic and Junior U.S. Open Championships.

A two-time Junior World Team member in the 70kg division, 17-year-old Helen Delpopolo (Westfield, N.J.) is competing for the first time at 78kg – the division in which she won gold at the 2009 Pan American Junior Championships. 

The team is coached by 2009 Junior World Team Coach Serge Bouyssou (Hope, R.I.)  Bouyssou is assisted by Carrie Chandler (Wakefield, Mass.), a two-time Senior World Team member who is making her international coaching debut.  Derrick Kerr (Honolulu, Hawaii) is serving as the team manager.

“We are encouraged by the talent of this very young team and look forward to success here and all the future success that is to come,” Coach Bouyssou said.  

Competition schedule is as follows: 

Thursday, October 21
Men’s 55kg and 60kg
Women’s 44kg and 48kg

Friday, October 22
Men’s 66kg and 73kg
Women’s 52kg and 57kg

Saturday, October 23
Men’s 81kg and 90kg
Women’s 63kg and 70kg

Sunday, October 24
Men’s 100kg and +100kg
Women’s 78kg and +78kg

The roster of athletes competing is as follows:

Women’s 44kg
Taylor Ibera (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center)
Vanessa Calimquim (Torrance, Calif. / Gardena Judo)

Women’s 48kg
Katelyn Bouyssou (Hope, R.I. / NYAC / Mayo Quanchi Judo Club)
Nadine Encarnacion (Bothell, Wash. / Budokan Judo)

Women’s 52kg
Amelia Fulgentes (Simi Valley, Calif. / Mojica Judo)

Women’s 57kg
Kayla Chappell (Oklahoma City, Okla. / USA Stars)
Lauren Baez (Coral Gables, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at South Florida)

Women’s 63kg
Lydia Au (Chicago, Ill. / Menomonee Judo)
Samantha Martin (Burleson, Texas / Ruben Martin Judo Training Center)

Women’s 70kg
Karina Bach (Largo, Fla. / Del Diaz Mambi Training Center)
Kelsi Bostic (Anderson, Ind. / Judan Judo)

Women’s +78kg
Micaela Enriquez (Burleson, Texas / Fort Worth Judo Club)

Men’s 55kg
Robby Schultheis (Gurnee, Ill. / Gurnee Judo)
David Honda (Torrance, Calif. / South Bay Judo)

Men’s 60kg
Ricondo Cole (Providence, R.I. / Mayo Quanchi Judo Club)
George Truong (Colorado Springs, Colo. / Ju Shin Kan)

Men’s 66kg
Kyle Taketa (Torrance, Calif. / Gardena Judo Club)
Anthony Kwon (Kaneohe, Hawaii / Hodokan Judo Club)

Men’s 73kg
Andrew Porras (Hialeah, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at South Florida)
Steve Perez (Miami, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at South Florida)

Men’s 81kg
Max Golembo (Vernon Hills, Ill. / Cohen’s Judo)
Derek Wojcik (Tyrone, Ga. / Ippon Judo)

Men’s 90kg
Colton Brown (San Jose, Calif. / USA Judo National Training Site at San Jose State University)
Matthew Koch (West Paterson, N.J. / Camal Judo)

Daniel Palatnik (Rego Park, N.Y. / Spartak Sports Club)

Men’s +100kg
Viktor Pedchenko (Philadelphia, Pa. / Red Square Judo)
Jimmy Barnes (Oklahoma City, Okla. / USA Stars)

(Tokyo, Japan) – After five days of fighting competitors from 111 countries at the largest World Championships in the history of judo, one thing was certain – Team USA had gained the respect of the rest of the world.

“I’m extremely proud of our team.  This is probably the most successful World Championships USA Judo has had since 1993.  We had multiple athletes who won multiple matches and showed that they were competitive at the world level,” said Head Coach Jimmy Pedro (Methuen,Mass.) 

While the story of the week was unquestionablyKayla Harrison (Wakefield, Mass. / NYAC / USA Judo National Team FORCE) becoming the first U.S. woman to win gold at this event in 26 years, the subheading was that her U.S. teammates are prepared to make sure there will be multiple Americans with shots at the podium at the London Olympic Games. 

“Kayla’s win really set the tone for the event and, even though I have fought and coached in probably a dozen Worlds, that was easily one of the best moments I’ve ever had the opportunity to witness,” said USA Judo Director of Athlete Performance Eddie Liddie (Colorado Springs, Colo.)  “But watching everybody else really bring it out there for five straight days was incredible too.  There were multiple players all in the hunt to fight in the medal rounds and seeing the potential of these young kids is amazing.” 

Kayla Harrison gives her flowers to a fan after receiving her gold medal. Photo Credit: Chuck Medani.

The new level of depth of the team did not go unnoticed by coaches and officials from some of the top teams in the world. 

“I cannot tell you how many different coaches from other countries have commented on the improvement that they’ve seen with the American team,” Coach Pedro said.  “The world has congratulated our staff up and down for the way our team has performed, the improvement that they’ve seen and it’s just so rewarding as a coach to get those accolades from other countries.  It really means a lot.” 

Overall, Team USA earned two match wins with 12 players advancing out of the opening rounds and two players winning the first three matches to place ninth in 80+ player divisions.

Among the outstanding performances were NYAC / USA Judo National Team FORCE teammates Nick Delpopolo (Wakefield, Mass.) and Travis Stevens (Wakefield,Mass.) who placed ninth in the 73kg and 81kg divisions, respectively.

Nick Delpopolo throws Ahmed Salmad (IRQ) for ippon in the 73kg division.  Photo Credit: Chuck Medani.

Delpopolo won his first three matches by ippon (instant win), including an opening round upset over #8 seed Nick Tritton (CAN)– a player who Delpopolo had not defeated in their last five meetings.

Stevens also earned a key win against 2009 European medalistLevan Tsiklauri (GEO) whom Stevens threw in the opening round.  Like Delpopolo, Stevens fell just one match short of the quarter-finals when he lost a close match on penalties to 2007 World medalist Euan Burton (GBR).

“Nick and Travis both fought very well in some tough matches and, although they just missed making the quarters, they both showed that they can compete with the best in the world and will undoubtedly be podium contenders during the next two years,” Liddie said.

In addition, 20-year-old Kyle Vashkulat (Glenville, N.Y. / NYAC / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center) earned a win in the 100kg division that was still being talked about at the end of the tournament when he threw 2007 World Champion Luciano Correa (BRA) for ippon in his opening round. 

Travis Stevens throws Levan Tsiklauri (GEO) in the first round of the 81kg division. Photo Credit: Chuck Medani.

Although Vashkulat lost a close match to 2007 World medalistOreidys Despaigne (CUB) in the next round, the two-time World Cup medalist showed that he can compete with the best in the world. 

“All of our kids are so young on this team, but particularly Kyle.  Hundred kilos is a division where most of these guys are hitting their prime in their mid- to late-twenties and to be able to have some of the wins Kyle has earned this season shows just how much long-term potential he has,” Liddie said.  “Like most of this crew, Kyle will be one to watch both in London and inRio.”

Michael Eldred (Fruitland, Idaho / Western Idaho Judo Institute) also came within two matches of being in the medal hunt, winning his first two matches in the 73kg division, before losing a third to 2009 World medalist Mansur Isaev (RUS). 

“Michael had a very solid world championship performance pinning the guy fromTurkmenistan in the first round and winning a gutsy golden score match against Romero from Spain,” Coach Pedro said.  “Michael fought the Russian who was #4 in the world well and was only down by yuko heading into the final minute where I thought he scored a yuko back with sode which would have evened the match, but the referees didn’t call the score. He was extremely close to making it through to the quarters.” 

Michael Eldred throws Arslan Nurmuhammedov (TKM) in his opening 73kg match.  Photo Credit: Chuck Medani.

Former World Cup ChampionsMarti Malloy (San Jose, Calif. /USA Judo National Training Site at San Jose State University) andJeanette Rodriguez (Davie, Fla./ USA Judo National Training Site at South Florida) both received difficult draws, but also came within seconds of advancing past world class opponents.

After a first-round bye, Malloy faced Nae Udaka (JPN) in front of Udaka’s hometown crowd and fought for five minutes before losing by a single stalling penalty in the 57kg division.  Rodriguez found herself competing against former World Champion and Olympic medalist Yanet Bermoy (CUB) who defeated Rodriguez by two penalties. 

“Both of those matches really could’ve gone either way,” Coach Pedro said.  “We knew going into this that Marti and Jeanette had rough draws and that they’d need to have great matches to come out, but without those penalties, either of the girls could have made it into at least the quarters and top-seven finishes.” 

With two years of World Cup competitions and another World Championships before the Olympic Games in 2012, the young U.S. Team will be one to watch in 2012. 

“The next two years bodes well for the country.  We’re going to have a shot at a couple of Olympic medals and I think with more experience at this level I’m confident that we’re going to be able to perform come London,” Coach Pedro said.  “The difference between Kayla last year and Kayla the World Champion is that she got about 20 to 30 really tough matches under her belt between then and now and we just need to keep working on getting our kids that kind of experience to prepare more of them to move up to that level.”

With the Worlds serving as one of the largest qualifiers for the 2012 Games, Team USAis poised to qualify more players than many skeptics previously thought.  

“When they changed the Olympic qualification system so the slots were awarded by World Rankings over two years, some people in the U.S. started thinking we’re only going to qualify like two athletes for London,” Coach Pedro said.  “I think our players have shown this week and throughout the World Cup season where they’ve earned more than 40 medals so far that we’re on track to not just qualify a number of great players for London, but those athletes will be contenders as well.”

Although the rankings have not been completed following the Worlds, USA Judo officials believe that between five and six U.S. athletes will fall within the range of top-14 women and top-22 men on the Olympic qualifying total list with several more sitting on the bubble. 

“We’ve got probably 10 or 12 that are either all within striking distance of that top 22 and top 14 and in some divisions like 73s where we have both Delpopolo and Eldred, there are multiple players who could qualify for London,” said Liddie.

With the World Tour series of Olympic qualifying events starting back up again in three weeks, Team USA will return to the competition circuit soon. 

“There’s really not much time for a break.  It’s time to get back out there for our guys.  Eddie and I are working with the top athletes to strategize who’s going where to maximize qualification points and get in those matches they need to prepare forLondon,” Coach Pedro said.  “This has been a great week, but now the team will be off to Great Britain, Rome, Rotterdam, Uzbekistan, Samoa, Japan, Abu Dhabi…  It’s going to be a long fall, but these athletes had a great first leg of the qualification process in North and South America and hopefully the momentum continues in Europe and Asia.”

Tags: Eddie Liddie, Jeanette Rodriguez, Jimmy Pedro, Kayla Harrison, Kyle Vashkulat, Marti Malloy, Michael Eldred, Nick Delpopolo, Travis Stevens

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Competing as the sole weightlifter on the 82-member U.S. Team, 16-year-old Jessica Beed (Norman, Okla. / USA Stars) placed seventh at the Youth Olympic Games in the 63kg division in Singapore on Tuesday. 

Beed set a new personal record by two kilograms with her final snatch of 75kg.  In the clean and jerk, Beed successfully completed her opening lift of 90kg.  She cleaned her next two attempts at 93kg, but missed the jerks to finish with a total of 165kg – just one kilogram behind sixth-place finisher Michelle Kahi (AUS).

“I set a good total and got a personal record in the snatch.  Everyone’s got that goal for the gold, but I wanted to set personal records and I’m very happy with what I did,” Beed said after the competition. 

Although she was the only U.S. weightlifter in the event, Beed didn’t let the pressure of competing on such a large stage affect her as she went out to lift.

“I was feeling a little nervousness and intimidation, but once I got out there and had a feel for the platform I just realized ‘I made it!’” she said.  “It was time to go out there and show everyone what I’ve got and just have fun.”

Beed, who helped qualify a slot for the U.S. women at this event when she competed at the 2009 Youth Worlds, solidified her slot on the Team after the National School Age Weightlifting Championships in June.

“When I realized I got the slot I was in tears. For me, it was an extreme battle because it was me head-to-head with another girl, Megan Poole.  It was like climbing Mount Everest,” Beed said. 

With less than two years before the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Beed has considered moving up a weight division as she attempts to become one of the youngest U.S. lifters to compete at the Olympic Games.

“I’ve been at 63s for such a long time. I’m thinking about maybe gaining some weight and seeing how my lifts go up,” Beed said.  “I’m a person who likes to play it by ear. When opportunities open up, I like to decide it on the spot. 2012 has always been in the back of my head.”

A 2009 Junior National Champion in judo, Beed says her status as a multi-sport athlete helps her on the weightlifting platform as well.

“In general, [judo] gives me that much more mat time, more time out there performing in front of people. I guess in that way, it makes me less nervous,” Beed said.  “It also helps me with flexibility. In weightlifting, I don’t have to worry about my cardio, because I get that in judo.”

Beed will remain in Singapore through the Closing Ceremony of the Games on Aug. 26. 

“Going back home, I’ve earned the title of an Olympian. That right there builds your confidence up and drives you to do more and try new things," Beed said.  "They have these CEP [Culture and Education Programme] activities and there’s such a variety of things to do here. You’re not just getting awareness of competition out of this and confidence, but education and awareness of different things going on in the world.”

Complete results for the 63kg division are as follows:

1. Zhazira Zhapparkul (KAZ): 90kg, 115kg, 205kg
2. Diana Akhmetova (RUS): 94kg, 110kg, 204kg
3. Aremi Fuentes (MEX): 88kg, 106kg, 204kg
4. Neslihan Okumus (TUR): 87kg, 106kg, 193kg
5. Patricia Llena (PHI): 83kg, 95kg, 178kg
6. Michelle Kahi (AUS): 74kg, 92kg, 166kg
7. Jessica Beed (Norman, Okla. / USA Stars): 75kg, 90kg, 165kg

Tags: Jessica Beed