Ronda Rousey

Ronda Rousey (born February 1, 1987 in Santa Monica, California is an American judoka. She trains in the Olympic Training Center in Wakefield, Massachusetts under guidance of Jimmy Pedro.

At just 17, Rousey qualified for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, becoming the youngest judo player in the entire Games.

Also in 2004, Rousey won a gold medal at the 2004 World Junior Judo Championships in Budapest, Hungary

In April 2006, she became the first U.S. female athlete in nearly 10 years to win an A-Level tournament as she went 5-0 to claim gold at the Birmingham World Cup in Great Britain. Later that year, the 19-year-old won the bronze medal at the Junior World Championships, becoming the first U.S. athlete ever to win two Junior World medals.

In February 2007, Rousey moved up to 70kg where she is currently ranked as one of the top three women in the world. She won the silver medal at the 2007 World Judo Championships in the middleweight division and the bronze medal at the 2007 Pan Am Games

In August 2008, Rousey competed at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. She lost her quarterfinal to the Dutch ex-world champion Edith Bosch but she qualified for a Bronze medal match through the repechage bracket, and defeated Annett Boehm by Yuko to win a bronze medal (Judo offers two bronze medals per weight class). Rousey became the first American to win an Olympic medal in women's judo since its inception as an Olympic sport in 1992. [http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jxspwuKNqUuwK3_-U1B4QFQw7cXAD92HC8EO0]

References

External Links

* [http://www.usjudo.org/seniors_bioRRousey.asp USA judo - Ronda Rousey bio]
* [http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/BIO/Athlete/4/221714.shtml IOC - Ronda Rousey bio]
* [http://www.pedrosmartialarts.com/srteamnew/ronda.htm/ Pedro's Judo Center]
* [http://www.rondarousey.net/blog/ Ronda's blog]
* [http://www.judovision.org/?s=Rousey+Ronda Video clips with Ronda on judovision.org]
* [http://www.rondarousey.net/blog/?page_id=4 vegan]