Kayla Harrison

One of the top-ranked women judo athletes in the world, Kayla Harrison overcame personal struggles to become the first American in Olympic history to claim a gold medal in her chosen form of martial arts. Born July 2, 1990 in Middletown, Ohio, she was introduced to judo by her mother, who held a black belt in the sport. Harrison soon established herself as a gifted competitor at the junior level, capturing the U.S. Open titles at that level from 2003 to 2005 and the Junior World Championship in 2008. During this period of remarkable success, Harrison was also harboring a terrible secret: she had suffered sexual abuse at the hands of her coach for years. Finally, at the age of 16, she found the courage to report the incidents, which resulted in her coach's arrest. Harrison then relocated to Boston to train with Olympic judo medalist Jimmy Pardo and his father. The Pedros not only honed her exceptional talents, which helped her to win numerous American and international judo titles, but also provided her with the emotional support to work past the psychological trauma she had endured. Her remarkable string of wins culminated in the 2012 Summer Olympics, where she became the first American to win a gold medal for judo. The next four years saw Harrison continue to claim wins at major Stateside and international judo championships while also establishing herself as an advocate for child sexual abuse survivors through her own organization, the Fearless Foundation. In 2016, she paved her way for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio by winning both the USA Judo Senior National Championship, which marked her 9th American title win, and the Pan American Championships, both of which established her as the top-ranked women judo competitor in her weight class.