Kayla Harrison Makes History with a Gold in Judo

Kayla Harrison won the World Judo Championship in 2010 and last week she took home the Gold Medal for Women’s Judo 78kg Division at the Olympics in London. She stopped by the SiriusXM studios to talk with Ron Bennington about her big win. Excerpts of the interview appear below.

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Ron Bennington: Kayla Harrison brings back the gold! Are you used to that yet?

Kayla Harrison: No, not at all. You can say it again if you want.

Ron Bennington: I will! Kayla Harrison brings back the gold! And one of those things where you were up against a real hometown favorite there in the finals, so the crowd in that room was against you. Does that make a big difference?

Kayla Harrison: Ummm…..no. That day, I woke up with one thing on my mind and that was to win the Olympics. It didn’t matter, who stepped across the mat from me that day. I knew that in order for them to beat me, they were going to have to take it from me.

Ron Bennington: And your sport is different from so many others because it is really about two people going against each other. So many of these things are sports where there’s no defense, there’s no attack. In your sport, it’s really about your competitor.

Kayla Harrison: It is. Thjat’s one of the things that I love about Judo. At the end of the day, its you versus one other person, and it’s a battle of wills. It’s about who wants it more. Who wants to walk away with this title.

Ron Bennington: So how do you get yourself in this position where you know it’s you who wants it more.

Kayla Harrison: Well first of all, I train harder than anybody in my division. At (pagers?) we do Judo twice a day, we lift five days a week and we run three days a week. So two to four workouts a day give you a lot of confidence in your ability. But also, my coaches are really big on visualization. So for two years now, every night before I went to bed, for about ten minutes I would visualize my entire day at the Olympics. I would visualize what I would eat for breakfast. I would visualize the bus ride to the tournament. I would visualize my warmup. I would visualize each match until I got to the finals, and I would visualize myself winning and standing on the podium and hearing the national anthem and hugging my family and crying. I would go through it all every night before I went to sleep so by the time I got there, I had done it a thousand times.

Ron Bennington: And yet that must feel more surreal when you’re actually going through it– here’s the bus ride I was thinking about…

Kayla Harrison: …exactly! It was …you know I woke up that morning and it was as if my brain sort of just clicked. It knew. You know, athletes call them “white moments”, and it’s only happened to me twice in my career. It’s where you just wake up and know… that it’s going to happen.

Ron Bennington: And so you go to that point and it all happens the way you visualized. Now looking back on it, did you need all that stuff to get there? Could you have done it without those years of training? Could you have done it without those kind of visualizations? Could anything have been dropped?

Kayla Harrison: No. I think that everything went perfectly. I think that I really do believe some things are just meant to be. And I would tell myself every night, this is my day, this is my purpose. And all throughout that day, my coach Jimmy was saying, Kayla Harrison, Olympic champion. Kayla Harrison, Olympic Champion. Are you tougher than this girl? Do you want to beat this girl? Do you want this more than her? It wasn’t only just that day, but it was exactly what you said– all those years, all of that training, and all of my teammates. My coaches. My friends. Everyone really sacrificed a lot for my dream.

Ron Bennington: So when you take that gold back home, have you had a chance to see everybody back at home?

Kayla Harrison: My family came to London so I got to hang out with them for a little bit but after this trip to New York I’m going home to Boston and we’re going to have a big welcome home party Sunday. So that will be the first time I really get to see everyone. And then I’m going home to Ohio in about a week, so we’re going to celebrate.

Ron Bennington: It’s such a unique thing for a person to do. We talk about, oh we have the most Gold medals but there are still less than 40 people this year who had this experience. No one else has ever Gold medaled in Judo in the history of the United States. You’re in the history books and nothing’s going to take that out now.

Kayla Harrison: I’m the first. First of all, just to be at the Olympics– to be among the elite of the elite– is a huge honor. And to represent the greatest country in the world is a huge honor. And to win a Gold Medal is amazing! It’s a huge honor. But then to be the first…ever…it’s almost like too much for me. I can’t handle it. I’m on overload. (Laughs)

Ron Bennington: When you first got involved in Judo, this wasn’t something that you were thinking about though…I mean this has only been the latter part of your life to realize that you are elite. But as a kid, you had no idea.

Kayla Harrison: No, I loved Judo from the beginning. I thought it was fun, I liked competing. I didn’t win by any means but I really enjoyed hanging out with the team, getting to go to tournaments, swimming in the pool at the hotel. I liked being special and it sort of just grew into a passion for the sport.

Ron Bennington: But really early on you knew that this was something for you as opposed to other sports?

Kayla Harrison: You know, it’s funny because when I started Judo I did a lot of different stuff, and by the end of the first year, all I did was Judo.

Ron Bennington: I think athletes on this level could probably play all the other sports. But even though you talk about your “team”, the difference between you and the kids that are on the soccer team or basketball team is that you’re the only person out there. You’re the only one who can make that difference for that whole team of people.

Kayla Harrison: I have a team and we’re great and they’re my best friends, but at the end of the day, it is an individual sport. Like I said at the beginning it’s me and one other girl out there. And what it comes down to…it’s a fight.

Ron Bennington: Well, I’ll tell you, you made yourself proud but you also made a nation proud. And I’ll say it one more time, Kayla Harrison brings back the gold. Thank you so much and best of luck with whatever you’re doing next.

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Follow Kayla on Twitter or send her congratulations at @Judo_Kayla

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You can hear this interview in its entirety exclusively on SiriusXM satellite radio.  Not yet a subscriber?  Click here for a free trial subscription.

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You can learn more about Ron Bennington’s two interview shows, Unmasked and Ron Bennington Interviews at RonBenningtonInterviews.com.