Final Major Olympic Qualifier to be Held at Senior World Championships Beginning Sunday

(Colorado Springs, CO) – Fourteen members of Team USA will compete at the Senior World Championships in Abu Dhabi from May 19-23 in the final major event of the Paris Olympic qualifying period.

2024 Senior World Championships Live Stream and Results

The tournament is expected to be one of the largest Senior World Championships in recent history with 676 athletes from 108 countries scheduled to compete.

U.S. athletes were selected to the team based on their positions in the IJF World Rankings with all athletes needing to be ranked in the top 100 in order to qualify for the Senior Worlds. In addition, any open positions as of May 13 were filled by athletes ranked in the top 16 of the Junior World Ranking List dated March 26.

The U.S. squad includes 10 returning members of Senior World Championship Teams as well as four athletes making their Senior World debuts in Abu Dhabi.

Worth 2,00 points on the Olympic and World Ranking Lists, nearly all of the 2024 Olympic hopefuls are expected to compete at the Senior World Championships in order to either secure their position at the Games or bolster their seed in Paris. Athletes are attempting to secure a position among the top 17 on the filtered Olympic Ranking Lists before June 25 or earn an allocation via the continental quotas.

Currently, Team USA has two athletes ranked among the top 17 and several just outside the top 17 in the position to earn a continental quota the top athlete in the region.

Ranked 10th at 48 kg on the filtered Olympic Ranking List, Maria Laborde (Kenosha, WI / NYAC / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center) has nearly secured a position on her first Olympic Team. The two-time Senior World medalist for her native Cuba had one of her best career results in 2023 when she won a silver medal at the Masters World Championships and will be one of Team USA’s top candidates for a position on the podium in Abu Dhabi. Points scored by Laborde in Abu Dhabi will help her quest to earn a seed in Paris as only the top eight in the world are seeded and the remainder of the draw is done at random.

Twenty-year-old Jack Yonezuka (West Long Branch, NJ / NYAC / Cranford JKC) began the Olympic qualification period in 2022 with his long-term goal set for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles where he hoped to follow in the footsteps of his father, 1980 Olympian Nick Yonezuka (West Long Branch, NJ), and grandfather, two-time Olympic Coach Yoshisada Yonezuka (Cranford, NJ). After back-to-back Junior World medals in 2022 and 2023, however, Yonezuka shot up the 73 kg ranks with results that included outstanding senior finishes as well, including a bronze medal at the Upper Austria Grand Prix in March and a fifth-place result at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam in October. Yonezuka needs at least a top-16 result at Senior Worlds, however, to improve on his position of No. 15 in the Olympic Rankings.

Two-time Olympian Angelica Delgado (Miami, FL / NYAC / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center) currently sits in 19th on the Olympic Ranking List. The position gives her the continental quota, but Delgado, who won her sixth career Senior Pan Am silver medal in April, is seeking to move back into the top 17 which would open up a potential Continental Quota slot for her teammates. Delgado needs at least a top-32 result with a match win in Abu Dhabi in order to improve her position in the rankings.

Three members of Team USA are ranked among the top 30 on the filtered Olympic Ranking List and seeking to break into either the top 17 or the Continental Quota position.

John Jayne (Chicago, IL) scored his best career result at the Senior Pan Ams where he earned a silver medal in the 90 kg division after upsetting World No. 10 Rafael Macedo (BRA) in the semifinals.

Mariah Holguin (San Antonio, TX / Universal Judo) won her second career Senior Pan Am medal in the 57 kg division in Rio last month and earned a top-16 finish over the weekend at the Qazaqstan Barysy Grand Slam

A 2008 U.S. Olympic Team alternate, 35-year-old

Hannah Martin (Burnt Hills, NY / NYAC)

is aiming to earn a position on her first Olympic Team. Competing on her ninth Senior World Team, Martin gave birth to daughter, Zoey, in 2021 and is looking to be the first mom to qualify for a U.S. Olympic Judo Team since 2008.

On the men’s side, brothers Kell Berliner (Schenectady, NY / Jason Morris Judo Center) and Ari Berliner (Schenectady, NY / NYAC / Jason Morris Judo Center) each qualified for their third Senior World Teams in the 81 kg and 66 kg divisions, respectively. Kell holds six Continental Open medals while Ari is a 2022 Senior Pan Am bronze medalist who finished fifth at this year’s Senior Pan Ams.

Nick Yonezuka (West Long Branch, NJ / NYAC / Cranford JKC), older brother of Jack Yonezuka, also qualified for his third straight Senior World Team at just 22 years old after a seventh-place result at the Senior Pan Ams.

David Terao (Fairfax, VA / 60 kg), Christopher Velazco (Coral Springs, FL / NYAC / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center / 60 kg) and Philip Horiuchi (West Covina, CA / LA Tenri / +100 kg) each earned positions on their first Senior World Team.

Terao, a former NCAA All-American wrestler, won a silver medal at his second Senior Pan Ams in May while Horiuchi will be competing on his second Senior National Team after qualifying for the Pan Am Games in October.

A two-time Junior World Team member and 2024 Junior Pan Am Champion, 18-year-old Velazco qualified for the Senior Worlds through his position on the Junior World Ranking List where he is currently ranked No. 3 in his division.

On the women’s side, seven-time Continental Open medalist Sara Golden (Crystal Lake, IL / USA Judo National Resident Training Center Team) brings experience from three past Senior World Championships in the 63 kg division to the squad.

Two-time Continental Open Champion Melissa Myers (Burnt Hills, NY / Jason Morris Judo Center) will make her Senior World Championship debut in Abu Dhabi in the 70 kg division after competing at both the 2023 and 2024 Senior Pan Am Championships.

Team USA’s roster and schedule are as follows:

Sunday, May 19
Men’s 60 kg:
David Terao (Fairfax, VA)
Christopher Velazco (Coral Springs, FL / NYAC / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center)

Women’s 48 kg:
Maria Laborde (Kenosha, WI / NYAC / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center)

Women’s 52 kg:
Angelica Delgado (Miami, FL / NYAC / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center)

Monday, May 20
Men’s 66 kg:
Ari Berliner (Schenectady, NY / NYAC / Jason Morris Judo Center)

Men’s 73 kg:
Jack Yonezuka (West Long Branch, NJ / NYAC / Cranford JKC)

Women’s 57 kg:
Mariah Holguin (San Antonio, TX / Universal Judo)

Tuesday, May 21
Men’s 81 kg:
Kell Berliner (Schenectady, NY / Jason Morris Judo Center)
Nick Yonezuka (West Long Branch, NY / NYAC / Cranford JKC)

Women’s 63 kg:
Sara Golden (Crystal Lake, IL / USA Judo National Resident Training Center Team)
Hannah Martin (Burnt Hills, NY / NYAC)

Wednesday, May 22
Men’s 90 kg:
John Jayne (Chicago, IL)

Women’s 70 kg:
Melissa Myers (Burnt Hills, NY / Jason Morris Judo Center)

Thursday, May 23
Men’s +100 kg
Phil Horiuchi (West Covina, CA / LA Tenri)