Why Does America Trail The World In Judo?

When comparing the sporting dominance of USA to other countries, there is quite a distinction between America and the rest of the world. However, this is not the case for judo.

Judo was added to the Olympic games for both men and women in 1992, which is the period we shall examine this from. 1992 is still a fairly modern year in terms of the Olympic games, which stretch all the way back to 1896. You will perhaps be surprised to hear that since judo became a competitive sport for both men and women in Barcelona 1992, the USA has only managed to win a single gold medal. Perhaps even more shocking is the fact that North Korea has managed to win more gold medal winners in Olympic judo during this time.

What this shows us is that wealth, training programs and other competitive edges can only go so far. If North Korea can win judo gold medals despite being one of the poorest countries on earth, why can’t USA?

This is not to say that the United States are awful at judo by any means either. Kayla Harrison famously won America’s only gold medals at London 2012 and Rio 2016. The USA has also had very solid competitors such as Jimmy Pedro, Travis Stevens and Ronda Rousey, but has not been an international powerhouse by any measurement.

So why is America so far behind in judo?

Cultural Issues

First of all are the cultural issues of judo itself. If you go to any city in America, you will find a judo dojo. This shows that judo is popular and has some representation in the USA, but this sentence can be a little misleading. Culturally, judo is mostly trained by kids in America. Of course, adults do train judo too, but not to the extent that children do. Using simple logic, we can see that you aren’t going to win any medals by having the best team of 11 year olds, it requires both grown men and women to compete at the highest level.

Secondly, most judo gyms do not take the sport as seriously when compared to other countries. Whilst they may take part in local competitions, or even national tournaments, the amount of competitors is far lower in America compared to other countries such as Japan. Stevens, Rousey and Harrison showed that it is possible to win Olympic medals despite this, but it certainly didn’t make their path any easier.

Lastly, judo is simply not as popular in the USA as it is in continental Europe and Asia. There are simply not as many people interested in the sport compared to the rest of the world. This alone is quite a crucial factor when looking at who will be successful in future competitions.

The Dominance Of Wrestling & Other Sports

Perhaps the main reason why America is so far behind the rest of the world in judo is the dominance of freestyle wrestling. If we take a look at college scholarships, in 2020, there were 419 schools financially sponsoring wrestling teams. When searching the web for judo scholarship opportunities, it really is slim pickings, with Texas A&M being the only notable school we could find.

As wrestling is a very physical sport that involves throwing your opponent to the mat, it is a direct competitor of judo. There is no doubt that there are many NCAA level wrestlers who could have made great judokas, but simply never try because their time is better spent wrestling. It is possible to make a living as a professional wrestler in the USA, but far tougher to do the same in judo. When Ronda Rousey was on the USA olympic team, she was working 3 part time jobs to support herself. Whilst wrestling is certainly not a rich and glamorous sport, top wrestlers do not have to live like this.

Other than wrestling, there are many other sports that take priority in the USA such as basketball, baseball and American football. All of these sports dwarf judo with their popularity. If the USA were to compete at any of these sports against other nations, there is no doubt that they would be the favorites for each tournament. In short, not enough people care or are interested enough in judo for the country to be wildly successful.

1st Place World Championship Judo Finishing Positions By Weight Category

• Japan – 19
• France – 17
• South Korea – 12
• Netherlands – 11
• Cuba – 11
• Germany – 9
• Russia – 8
• United Kingdom – 7
• China – 6
• Brazil – 5
• Various countries – 4
• Varous other countries & USA – 3

It is clear to see then, that the USA is quite some way behind Europe and Asia in terms of judo competition winners in all weight categories.

What Can Be Done To Make The USA More Competitive At Judo?

By looking at the list of winners above, the issue is clearly not just about money. Of course, money can go some way to solving problems, but it will not remove them. Cuba and Brazil are certainly not wealthy countries by an economic measure, yet have produced significantly more judo champions than the United States. This is likely just because these countries place a larger emphasis on judo as a national sport. If the USA were to introduce high school judo competitions with the winners getting college scholarships, you can guarantee the level of judo within America would increase significantly.

Coaching & The Knowledge Gap

Due to the use of video footage and modern technology, the knowledge gap for all sports is closing little by little. If you are able to view high definition footage of foreign judokas, you will be able to slow down their technique and see all of the intricate details. In 1992 this simply wasn’t possible, so countries such as Japan who had centuries of judo experience had a gigantic edge over the rest of the world.

However, the gap in the quality of coaching is still relatively large. This is not to say that there are no fantastic judo coaches in the USA, but just far less than other countries. As the USA is an economic superpower, they could tempt various foreign coaches to come and train US athletes in return for monetary compensation. Various other countries have done well with this strategy in other sports such as cycling, rowing and soccer.

The Future Of Judo In The United States

In all honesty, the future does not look too bright for judo in the USA. Judo is not going to disappear any time soon, but it is still being outshone by various other grappling sports such as freestyle wrestling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. For this reason, it is very unlikely that the USA will become a judo superpower in the near future. The rest of the world simply cares a lot more about judo than the average American and this is a gap that is impossible to close unless there were to be a seismic cultural shift.