USA Judo came under heavy fire recently when Nick Delpopolo shared :
I am currently 9 spots away from being qualified for the Olympics. I am receiving zero funding from USA Judo for my upcoming Olympic qualifying tournaments in Israel, France and Germany or any other time during this year. These first 3 tournaments and training camps will cost in excess of 10 thousand dollars.
Please consider making a donation on my website www.NickDelpopolo.us or direct via PayPal using this link: Www.paypal.me/nickdelpopolo (link in bio)
For those wanting a tax deduction I can provide a 501c3 to donate through. (Please contact @lynnthursby)
The lack of funding from @usajudoofficial is greatly hampering the Americans ability to qualify for the Olympic Games.
I rely heavily on donations from the Judo community and every dollar donated goes a long way and is greatly appreciated.Yours in Judo,
Nick Delpopolo
2x Olympian
Now this wouldn’t be as shocking if just a little while back a veteran of USA judo didn’t write the following via Kayla Harrison’s page:
Dear USA Judo Members,
First of all I want to say this has nothing to do with the athletes. The athletes job is to fight and try to win as hard as they can. This has nothing to do with losing or the athletes.
At the past Grand Prix in Cancun, the US team had 34 losses and 7 wins total. So that means that all 34 losses allowed athletes from other countries to get points towards the olympics and getting ahead of us on the WRL. This is a big factor and shows me that we should not be allowing certain athletes to go to these events until they are at a certain level.
The thing that really upsets me however, is that we have gone so backwards with the people who are running USA Judo that they put out fake news all the time. When you have athletes that’s go 0-4 which translates to no wins and because no match was won you get zero points, and are congratulating these athletes for taking 7th without winning a match…Then something is majorly flawed in the system. That is the point that we are at in USA Judo? That’s what we’re proud of? Whoever put this out should be fired. And anybody that knew that is was going out and allowed this to be printed should be fired. I will guarantee most USA judo members did not watch the tournament and I guarantee that the board members did not watch the event. If they did they wouldn’t be congratulating a zero win result.
From now on when USA judo puts out fake news I am going to use this platform to tell you the truth. I never have in the past because as long as the athletes were taken care of I kept my mouth shout. However, I am tired of losing, and I am tired of these athletes suffering because no system is in place for them to be successful.
Its about time that USA Judo members put people in charge who know what they’re doing and care about the athletes winning or at least giving them the best chances of winning.
Yours In Judo,
Big JimUSA Judo Team USA
For those unaware Big Jim is the father to one of the rare Olympic Judo medalists from USA – Jimmy Pedro the man who coached Kayla Harrison to her 2 Olympic Golds as well as Travis Stevens to his silver.
As for Stevens he also shared:
USA Judo is providing this statement in response to several questions recently received regarding athlete funding:
In 2018 the USOC awarded USA Judo nearly $550,000 in indirect funding that served more than 50 elite able-bodied Sr. and Jr. athletes and coaches to cover high performance expenses and support, mostly toward event registration, transportation, lodging and meals. The USOC also provided nearly $100,000 in direct athlete support, awarding monthly stipends to the top five internationally ranked USA Judo athletes each quarter. In 2018, USA Judo additional contributed more than $120,000 toward high performance support.
In 2019, U.S. Senior Competitors will need to strategically choose from 36 IJF Events as to where they can compete to earn the most points possible in their quest to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games (top 18 competitors in all male and female weight classes, without duplicate country representation). These competitions take place on nearly every continent with only one event occurring in North America. The travel expense for these elite US Judoka adds up quickly, with up to a $5,000 cost for one event and $75,000-$100,000 annually per athlete.
You can read the full statement here.
Kayla Harrison distanced herself from USA Judo a while back due to clashes:
I want to take a moment and bring some clarity. I have some regret in my
Emotional moment and wish to clarify.What I failed to mention in my emotional moment was that I also powered through a corrupt organization and leader for many years. I regret not saying that Saturday night. I also regret taking away the spotlight from our para Olympians and for hurting anyone currently competings feelings. My speech was meant to make judo Better for our next Olympic champion. And to say goodbye to a sport that I have loved for a very long time.
A lot went into deciding to speak out. I didn’t want to and up until the last minute I wasn’t going to. I just felt as if I could no longer silently say thank you and just walk away. I wanted the judo community to know I am hurt and that our future will be hurt if changes are not made. I understand the new board and the new leadership is going to work hard to make changes. I hope that they succeed. I want nothing but the best for judo. I always have and have always fought my hardest and advocated my hardest to make that possible. But as I said- it gets to a point where I can’t sit back and watch what I believe to be big mistakes be made.
This is what my heart says and what I felt I had to do. I wish I had had the insight to not ruin people who I admired evenings.
And as for being asked to leave the mat- it was a small moment in a long long list of experiences and I regret mentioning it. I am not above anyone nor do I think I should be. But I am human and many who know me would agree a very emotional one at times. There was nothing wrong with what the volunteer did but when they said, “I know who you are and you need to get behind the barrier”… I will admit I was hurt. I only want to help. Truly. But I apologize to those trying to make our sport great and safe. I should have had a badge.My door will always be open to those who love judo. And my heart as well.
Thank you again, for everything.
Kayla
The post has since been deleted but could be found at:
https://www.facebook.com/kaylaharrisonjudo/posts/1459480140738940
Bruno Malfacine Is The Greatest BJJ Competitor Ever To Step On The Mat & For The First Time Ever – The Only 10x Weight Class Black Belt World Champion In History – Wants To Show You How He Wrecks The Big Guys .
