Kayla Harrison says she almost quit judo because of sexual abuse by a coach. Instead, she’s now the first American to win Olympic gold in the sport.
Harrison, 22, won the women’s under-78-kilogram division in London on Thursday, beating the United Kingdom’s Gemma Gibbons in the finals of a 21-woman tournament.
Harrison, a Middletown, Ohio, native training in Massachusetts, became the United States’ only Olympic champion in the sport – woman or man. Ranked No. 4 in the world, she had upset top-ranked Brazilian Mayra Aguiar in the semifinals.
She started judo at roughly age 7. But to get to this point, she has said, she needed to overcome sexual abuse – starting at age 13 – by the person who was then coaching her.
“When I was 16, I told a close friend of mine, who immediately told my mother, and she immediately went to the police and pressed charges. The FBI got involved, and he’s actually serving 10 years … in prison,” Harrison told CNN’s Ashleigh Banfield on July 9, weeks before the Olympics began.
“Every day was a lie. Inside, I was in constant turmoil, but on the outside I was supposed to be this golden girl and so happy,” Harrison said.
Harrison said she almost dropped judo because of the abuse. She said that it was not only “hard to deal with to be normal, but also to compete in the sport.”
But she decided to stick with judo, going on to win gold at the 2008 Junior World Championships and the 2010 World Championships.
“You get to the point where you decide that you don’t want to be a victim anymore and that you’re not going to live your life like that,” she said.
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Congrats, she turned fear into victory!!!!! God Bless you.... Ms. Harrison....
Her story makes me smile after the frown. It takes courage and great personal mind strength to not let the evil of others infect you. This is the best story I've read so far about the Olympics. The damage from abusers is signficant to the mind. To overcome it empresses me to the extreme. You are my hero of the year Kayla. Heck no, upgrade to hero of the decade...... Abusers are gold medal evil pain givers.
She made a choice to make her abuse public. It's about awareness. It encourages others who may have experienced something similar and let's them know they're not alone. Thank God someone has the conviction and strength that she has instead of burying her head in the sand like some of you would. Really people!
Great Job, Kayla!
Like I tell my students, " if it does not burn in the center of your chest, then you are not motivated to get the job done"
Sincerely:>)!!!
You are an inspiration figure to all the people who look down to their lives. I hope people will take you as an example and achieve more in their lives.
She isn't a victim! She is a Survivor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No, she's a THRIVER!!!!! Go Kayla!
Interesting........"Golden Gabby" won a gold for gymnastics, while "Abuse Victim" won a gold for judo. CNN, who writes your headlines, high school drop-outs. How about "Kayla Harrison's stunning performance won America's first-ever gold medal in judo"!
Hmmm. Maybe they wanted to put empasis on the fact that she was abused. So people in similar situations can draw inspirations from her story. Kayla rocks!
Precisely.
This is the crap that is wrong with the Olympic coverage this quadrenial. I want to SEE the sports. I do NOT give a rat's hairy flying hiney about all the BS "American Idol" style "back stories" on the athletes. Instead of dedicating the bandwidth/viewing time to this excellent fighter's background, they could have simply mentioned her win, shown a couple vids of some cool throws she pulled off then shown us some of the Silvers we got in Archery and/or golds in shooting.
You didn't have to click the link to this article if you didn't want to read it. Why is that so difficult for you to understand?
It is important for people in the US to know how hard it is for kids to overcome abuse and go on to succeed...specifically with the whole PSU nightmare...people act like it's so easy to move on from abuse...sadly, I think success stories are the rarity!
Congratulations to Kayla and Gabby and to all the US women and men who represented us so graciously...those who won and those who didn't win. Thank you!. You've made America proud! Go USA!
You go girl. If you are up for up, there are many of us would be enjoy locking you and the coach in a padded room for 2 minutes so you can demonstrate who is the master now
LOL! That's the most broken sentence I've written all week.
If the coach was any kind of man, he would give her one free shot and let it be filmed. Jerk.
What a wonderful inspiration for all those who have suffered abuse at the hands of someone they trusted. You go girl!!! Congratulations.
I wouldn't be a bit surpised if she visualized each of her judo opponents as the guy who abused her. I certainly would have... for additional motivation.
Yeah! That's turning something awful into something good and possibly healing. You have to pity her opponents though.
Who said she's "overweight??" How could somebody "overweight" win a gold medal in the Olympics in a sport as physically demanding as Judo?
You made us proud Kayla!!
"This person's mother is sick, this person's grandmother died, this person' mother had breast cancer, this person was abused, this person' car broke down"
Can't just go with the win, can they?
That's why I am not watching the Olympics.
I am sick of the "cry me a river" sob stories for each American.
Everybody is a victim, blah blah blah.
I am a victim of a piece of shrapnel that went into my arm and got stuck in the bone.
Nothing could be done for hours.
I still have a big scar on my arm.
If I was in the Olympics, I could beg for pity and sympathy too?
wahhh wahhh wahhhh.
You're not the only recipient of the Purple Heart reading this. Whether or not you have the thanks of your countrymen, you have mine.
The fact is that you and everyone else deserves their triumph over hardship celebrated.
I lost a portion of my jaw and have never been quite as handsome since. Actually, I scare children all the time. Maybe you could get a related tattoo on that arm? Do it what it takes to be the hero that you already are.