George Harris (judoka)

George Lee Harris (born January 15, 1933) was a member of the first US Olympic judo team. He was born in Kittrell, North Carolina.

The judo world sometimes speaks with pride of the 1964 American Olympic judo team as consisting of a Jew, an African-American, a Japanese-American, and a Native American (see Nishioka's book in the references, below). Harris was the African-American in this grouping.

He was a two-time gold medalist in the Pan American Games (1960 and 1963), four-time US National Champion (1957, 1958, ...), and six time Air Force Champion.

Harris had a long involvement with military judo in the US, and later served as president of the United States Judo Association.

Harris starred in a feature film tiled "Judo's Gentle Tiger" and also known as "The Year of the Gentle Tiger". A forerunner to "The Karate Kid", it was shot in the late 1970s, and was later broadcast as a NBC daytime program. Harris also appeared on talk shows and was twice a guest on "To Tell the Truth".

ources

*Nishioka, Hayward (2000) "Judo: Heart and Soul" Ohara Publications. ISBN 0-89750-137-3
* [http://www.usadojo.com/articles/ten-question-w-george-harris.htm Ten Questions with George Harris] - by Rebecca Barnett. Published in "The Masters, Judo for Adults" (2000)

ee also

*James Bregman (1964 teammate)
*Ben Nighthorse Campbell (1964 teammate)
*Paul Maruyama (1964 teammate)
*Yosh Uchida (Olympic team coach)

References

* [http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ha/george-harris-1.html sports-reference]