August 10, 2008 – Competition day 1-2

It’s been a few days since my last post. Two days of judo have gone by and so far the USA has a record of 4-6. We haven’t taken any medals…

Yesterday -48kg and -60kg divisions competed and let me tell you… what a sight!! Being able to watch all the preliminaries and finals has made me want the Olympics so much more. I want to be able to celebrate after taking a medal AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES! I want that. It just makes my dreams even that much brighter. Sayaka went 0-2. First round she drew Ryoko Tani, 2 time Olympic gold medalist, 2 time Olympic silver medalist and 7 time World Champ. She fought Tani well, she went the distance (full 5 minutes) and only lost by a yuko (second lowest score). Since Tani made the semi-finals, Sayaka was able to fight in the reprecharge for 3rd. First round in the reprecharge, Sayaka had to fight China! She didn’t win… But it was quite an experience.

I loved watching the 2 days of judo. I can’t really explain how much it’s meant and has impacted my life … I want to be there one day…

Other than judo, I haven’t done anything. From 1200-2100ish we are at the tournament venue. Just watch judo all day. But before the tournament, on Saturday (day 1), Marti, Michael and I went for a run. This morning Michael and I went for a run and then I biked afterwards with Marti and Kayla (and eventually mike) in the lobby of our building. Okay, you’re wondering why are we biking in the lobby. Well there’s 4 stationary bikes in the lobby of our building. So we used those. OH! I forgot to mention the DRASTIC change since the trip started. The WEATHER changed from the hot and muggy to torrential down pour. Between the preliminaries and finals, we had McD’s again. BUT we had to walk and we were soaked!!! There was probably an inch of water on the ground. I have video of it. I’ll post later with the other ones. It’s still raining and thundering outside. The only good thing about this storm is that the air will be nice and clear afterwards for a few days. I’m excited to see how that is.

Tomorrow’s competition is -57kg (Valerie Gotay) and -73 (Ryan Resser). Should be good… =)