[sixcol_five_last]
By Jesse Pinkston
Ricardo Dunn Blas Jr (aka RJ) is a well-known judoka Olympian. A family affair, RJ’s father got him into Judo at the age of 14.
RJ fell in love with the sport and never looked back.
“Judo is a Japanese sport that involves takedowns, submissions, and pins. What I love about Judo is the life lessons I have learned from competition and training. I love how I use it in relevance to everyday life.”
A couple of RJ’s fondest memories were “my first Pacific Games and my first World Cup medals. They meant the most because they were the first of my international matches and the highest level medal I have attained.” Judo has taken RJ literally all over the world and he now finds himself in London, competing in the XXX Olympiad with the best of the best Judo athletes in the world.
“I just spent a month in Japan and I am now here at the Kendal Judo Club preparing for the games. Kendal is an official pre-Olympic training camp so the coaches, staff, and facilities are top notch.” This 6’1” beast will be competing in the +100kg category and has no idea who he will compete against until a couple of days prior to the competition. “At this level there are no easy fights. It’s going to be a battle getting to the top and I’m ready to fight it!”
Any athlete knows it takes an extreme amount of dedication to excel in a sport. RJ commented that for Judo, “it takes time, experience, and lots of will power to stick with it through training and battling the monsters in the world scene. Being an Olympian also adds to the responsibilities of everyday life. You become an ambassador for your country and you always want to do them proud.
So training, dedication, and appearance are very important.” RJ qualified for the Games with an accumulation of world qualification points that was acquired by competing in the worlds judo circuits. Basically he had to travel to numerous competitions all over the world and earn enough points to qualify. When he realized he qualified for London he “was excited and proud that I have another chance at a medal!”
RJ’s personal goals for London are simple. GOLD. “Anyone who makes it to the games should only have one goal in mind and that is gold. But in honor of the Olympic motto Citius, Altius, Fortius so we can only hope to do our best and have that be enough.” As far as after the Games, RJ hasn’t thought that much ahead.
“My concentration has been solely on the London Olympic games. But I did put some thought into teaching as well as developing new judo players in hopes of keeping Guam’s representation in the Olympic Games a constant for Judo. I wanted to take a couple athletes under my wing and concentrate on training them to fight at the world level. I just need young athletes who are willing to do the work and put in the necessary time.”
RJ is ready to compete and represent the island of Guam. “I just wanted to thank everyone who has helped and supported me on my way to London. I want to thank the people of Guam for giving me a reason to represent our beautiful culture and people to the world. And I want to thank GSPN for giving me this opportunity to take part!”
[/sixcol_five_last][ubm_premium_banner_rotation banners=14, 18, 38 interval=9 width=120 height=600 orderby=rand]
[fbshare url=”http://www.gspnlive.com/?p=13522″ type=”button”][fblike url=”http://www.gspnlive.com/?p=13522″ style=”standard” showfaces=”false” width=”450″ verb=”like” font=”arial”]
GPS Sports Calendar
March 2024
- SU
- MO
- TU
- WE
- TH
- FR
- SA
Events for February
1st
ISA SOFTBALL
IIAAG MS GIRLS SOCCER FINALS
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL QUARTERFINALS
HS RUGBY PLAYOFFS
Events for March
2nd
HS RUGBY
ISA GIRLS SOFTBALL
ISA BOYS BASKETBALL FINALS
Events for March
2nd
Events for March
4th
ISA HIGH SCHOOL TENNIS
ISA SOFTBALL ALL-ISLAND COACHES MEETING
Events for March
5th
HS RUGBY PLAYOFFS
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS
Events for March
8th
IIAAG BOYS BASKETBALL FINALS
ISA HIGH SCHOOL TENNIS PLAYOFFS
Events for March
9th
ISA SOFTBALL FINALS
HS RUGBY FINALS
Events for March
9th
Events for March
14th
- 17
- 18
- 19
- 20
- 21
- 22
- 23
Events for March
16th
Events for March
17th
Events for March
18th
Events for March
19th
Events for March
20th
Events for March
22nd
Events for March
24th
Events for March
25th
Events for March
27th
Events for March
28th
Events for March
29th
- 31
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
Events for March
30th
Soccer
ISLANDERS OUTSHOOT DOLPHINS
Uncategorized
4TH QUARTER SPORTS SET FOR TAKE OFF
Soccer
ISLANDERS OUTSHOOT DOLPHINS
Uncategorized
4TH QUARTER SPORTS SET FOR TAKE OFF
COMING SOON …
4th Quarter Sports
- Guam Marathon