Kayla Harrison

Kayla Harrison during her Olympic victory in 2016

Kayla Harrison (born July 2, 1990 in Middletown , Ohio ) is an American judoka . With two Olympic victories, a world title and two victories at the Pan American Games, Kayla Harrison is the most successful American judoka. (As of 2016)

Career

Kayla Harrison won her first important tournament in Dallas in 2003 in the weight class up to 48 kilograms. In 2004 she was US junior champion in the weight class up to 52 kilograms, in 2005 in the weight class up to 63 kilograms. In 2006 she won the title in the weight class up to 70 kilograms at the US championships. In 2007 she won eight tournaments, including the Puerto Rico Open and the US Open, in the finals of the US championships, she lost in the weight class up to 63 kilograms against Marti Malloy . In 2008, the 1.73 m tall judoka rose to the light heavyweight division, the weight class up to 78 kilograms in which she has since been one of the best judokas in the world. In 2008 she won the US championships and the U20 world championships.

In 2009 Kayla Harrison won two US titles: the one up to 78 kilograms and the one in the open class. At the U20 World Championships in 2009, she lost in the final against Akari Ogata from Japan. Harrison won the bronze medal at the Pan American Championships in 2010. In the further course of the season she won the US championships and the US Open, as well as five World Cup tournaments. At the most important tournament of the year, the Judo World Championships 2010 in Tokyo, she won the final against the Brazilian Mayra Aguiar . In 2011 Harrison won the Pan American Championships and the Pan American Games . At the Judo World Championships in 2011 she won the bronze medal. In 2012 Harrison won the World Cup tournaments in Budapest and Miami. At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, she successively defeated the Russian Wera Moskaljuk , the Hungarian Abigél Joó and Mayra Aguiar through Ippon . Only in the final against the Briton Gemma Gibbons had Harrison over the full five minutes and won by two small scores. In 2013, her greatest achievement was the bronze medal at the Pan American Championships in San José.

In 2014 Harrison won the bronze medal at the World Championships in Chelyabinsk . In 2015 she was defeated in the final of the Pan American Championships in Edmonton against Mayra Aguiar . Three months later she won the final of the Pan American Games in Toronto against Aguiar. In 2016, Harrison won the US Championships and the Pan American Championships, among others. At the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro , Harrison won four times through Ippon, after the Chinese Zheuni Zhang , the Hungarian Abigél Joó and the Slovenian Anamari Velenšek , the French Audrey Tcheuméo also failed to hold out the full length of the fight in the final.

Web links

• Kayla Harrison in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Kayla Harrison on Judoinside (English)

Footnotes

1. ↑ Pan American Championships 2015
2. ↑ Pan American Games 2015