Can’t believe this year is over, well the competitive season is. 2013 I would probably say has been the “Year of First’s” for me. I started off the year competing in the Paris Grand Slam, even though I did not win my first match I still went head to head with the 2010 World Champion Morgane Ribout from France. That match help set the pace for the upcoming year. It gave me more confidence in myself, and it made me think, “Hey, maybe I can hang with the best of the best.” I have competed in the Paris Grand Slam 3 times already and I still have not won a match there. My goal next year is to win a match and to perhaps make it to the medal rounds!
So I didn’t come home with a medal from the European tour. But I did come home with two medals after the Uruguay Continental Open and the Argentina Continental Open that took place in March. I earned a bronze medal in Uruguay and a Silver in Argentina. After the Pan American Opens I competed at the US Senior Nationals and won my 2nd National Title.
A week after nationals I competed in my first Pan American Championships in Costa Rica! It was the first time that I qualified for the Continental Championships and I also earned a Bronze Medal at the event!! The USA Women’s team also won the TEAM competition defeating Brazil in the Semi-Finals and then Mexico in the Finals! That was an amazing experience for me, it’s a different feeling competing when you know your WHOLE entire team is counting on you.
After the Pan American Championships I found out that I qualified to compete in the WORLD MASTERS. The World Masters is an event that is invites the top 16 judoka from the world ranking list to compete in each weight category. I made the cut and was flown to Tyumen, Russia. I was hoping to make a dent at World Masters but I lost first round to ITALY. The Miami Grand Prix and El Salvador Continental Open were shortly after the World Masters. I was sick at the Miami Grand Prix so I did not compete very well, and lost first round to Mariana Silva from Brazil, but I regrouped and won a Bronze medal the following week in El Salvador.
After El Salvador I planned on spending a few months to prepare for the World Championships. It was my first time to ever qualify for the World Championships, and I was super excited that they were in Rio. A few weeks after returning from El Salvador I decided last minute to fly to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia to compete in a Grand Prix. I was the #1 seed at this event, lost in the Semi- Finals to Korea and won my Bronze Medal match against Mongolia. This was my FIRST EVER GRAND PRIX MEDAL! I picked up 120pts on the world ranking list, a Grand Prix medal and $1,000 in prize money.
The World Championships in Rio De Janerio, Brazil was by far my favorite trip that I did this year. Rio is gorgeous and our hotel was right along the shore line, so I got to walk on the beach every day and work on my tan. I actually got a nice little tan when I was there for a week and a half. I was a little nervous competing at the Worlds for my first time. I did not want to come all that way and lose first round. I had a pretty decent draw, I drew Cameroon first round and arm-barred her and my second round match was against Colombia. The real test was against Gevirse Emane from France. She was the reigning World Champion from 2011, and 2012 Bronze Medalist at the Olympic Games. Unfortunately, I lost in a tight 3-2 penalty battle and ended up placing 9th overall at my first World Championships. Next Year I hope to be a medal contender.
Two weeks after the World Championships a few of my teammates and I flew out to Rijeka, Croatia to compete in their first Grand Prix event. After my performance at the World Championships I was hoping to come home with a medal. I lost in the quarterfinal to Faith Pitman from Great Britain and then lost in the repechage. I was so disgusted with my performance that I booked my flight that very night to Tashkent, Uzbekistan to redeem myself at their Grand Prix event that was being held three weeks later. Tashkent was quite a hike, we flew from NYC to Moscow, and then had a 10 hour layover and then a 4 hour flight to Uzbekistan. I was also the first seed at this tournament and ended up in the FINALS against Mariana Barros from Brazil who I previously faced in the semi-finals in Argentina. I was caught in the beginning of the match, and ended up taking home a Silver Medal from the event. However, the silver medal finish moved me up in the world rankings to #11 in the world- which at that time was my career high. After Tashkent I competed in my dojo’s annual tournament, the Morris Cup and the Quebec Open taking Gold in both events.
I decided that my last tournament of the 2013 season would be the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. A week before I was set to leave for Abu Dhabi I hurt my back on my first set, my warm up set actually of dead lifts. I am almost embarrassed to admit that this happened but I guess its okay to talk about it now. As I picked up the bar something popped in my back and I had to drop the weights. I couldn’t walk and I laid on the ground waiting for the pain to pass hoping that it was just a back spasm and that it would go away. Nope- my back instantly tightened up and I could barely walk out to my car. I was in so much pain that I couldn’t even stand up straight. I was so nervous, I’ve hurt my back before but not to this extent where I couldn’t even straighten my back. For the next two days following my injury I literally was walking like a hunchback. I couldn’t straighten up my back, no matter what I did. I couldn’t do cardio, walk, and obviously I couldn’t do judo so I spent most of the day stretching. By Friday night I was able to go on the mat and workout at about 70% which was good considering I could not walk in the beginning of the week.
I was honestly thinking about cancelling my trip to Abu Dhabi because there was no way I was going to be able to perform at my best. I already put the money out for it, and it was my last event of the year, so I decided to just take a chance. Before flying out to Abu Dhabi I was invited to the All Sports Dinner at the NYAC! I am a member of the NYAC and they have been huge sponsors in my judo career since 2008! It was a lovely dinner, and I met a lot of great people and the owner of Film Annex (which is one reason why I am posting this blog now)
Despite injuring my back I am really happy that I took the chance and decided to compete in Abu Dhabi. I made it all the way to the semi-finals in Abu Dhabi! I lost in the semi- finals to the Austrian girl that ended up winning the whole event and beat Baldorj from Mongolia in the Bronze medal match. I am happy that I got to end the year on a winning note! I am now ranked #9 in the world and nothing is stopping me from progressing even further.
Every year I take the time to write down my personal goals that I want to accomplish during the year, and within the year I set short term goals. The goal could be as little as doing extra uchicomi’s or shaving off a few seconds off my daily runs. Every day I try to improve at something, even if it is very small. But I also have to keep in mind that as I am trying to improve I am also going to fail many times. I have not made all my goals this year, but it doesn’t mean I am going to quit and not try again tomorrow. I wouldn’t be where I am today without failing first. The life of an athlete is a hard journey, but it is a journey that I would not trade because it is a once and lifetime experience that I am honored to be part of.
I also want to thank everyone that has stood by my side and supported me through this year and to the Jason Morris Judo Center, Especially Jason Morris and Teri Takemori and to all my teammates that I train with day in and day out! Thank you so much for all your help and support- I am not sure where I would be without you!
Now onto 2014- my journey is only going to get harder!
Bring it on.
