Photo Credit: Justin Lubin/NBC Sports
Kayla Harrison is the first judoka that I have spotlighted and hopefully, she won’t be the last. As judo isn’t a relatively mainstream sport, Harrison is a very underrated athlete by mainstream media, but her story and her achievements deserve to be told. That’s why Kayla Harrison is this week’s spotlight!
Harrison took up judo at the age six after her mother told her about the sport. She began to train and was coached by Daniel Doyle, winning two championships by the time she was 15. However, Doyle began sexually abusing Harrison while he was training her. Harrison told her mother about the abuse and her mother went to the police. Doyle was sentenced to ten years in prison for abusing her. After the horrors with Doyle, Harrison moved from Ohio to Boston to be trained by Jimmy Pedro and his father.
Her Olympic career began in 2008 as she changed weight classes from 63kg to 78kg. She did not end up participating in the 2008 Olympics because the United States judo team did not qualify that year. She did,however, go on to win the Junior World Championships in 2008 and finish second in the 2009 Junior World Championships.
In 2010, she won a gold medal at the World Judo Championships and in 2011, she won bronze. Before the 2012 Olympics began, Harrison injured her knee but was still able to compete. During her first Olympics, she won gold in the -78 kg category.
Despite all of Harrison’s success, she almost gave up on judo at age 16. She became severely depressed, thought about committing suicide, but eventually she was able to work through her dark time and come out on the other side. She did have the chance to confront her abuser and addressed him with her victim impact statement at his trial.
The darkness of her past inspired Harrison to start her own foundation, “Fearless Foundation.” The foundation works to help those who have been abused find a light at the end of the tunnel and to help bring awareness to how abuse can affect children especially. She’s also a member of the “Board of Directors of Doc Wayne” which allows underprivileged and at-risk children to receive sports-based therapy.
Most recently, Harrison has released her own clothing line. Entitled “Kayla Harrison Fearless”, the collection feature athletic apparel such as yoga pants, t-shirt, hats, sports bras and judo uniforms. According to an interview with NBC, Harrison has stated that she might retire in 2016 after competing in the Olympics but already has some ideas on what she would like to do next.
Much like last week’s spotlight, Claressa Shields, Kayla Harrison had an extremely traumatic childhood but she was able to fuel that into something positive. As one of the front-runners to win another Olympic gold medal, Harrison is vastly underrated but her story should make you want to root for her when the Olympics kick off on Friday!
