Letter from USA Judo President Dr. Ron Tripp
Dear members of our USA Judo Family;
It is with great pleasure that I am sharing with you today wonderful news pertaining to the successes of USA Judo this past month.
Since 2024, our organization has faced ongoing challenges in our relationships with the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) and with the International Judo Federation (IJF). These challenges included some outdated perceptions of conflict resolution among USA Judo volunteers, conflicts of interest, and the need to update our governance model to be consistent with USOPC and IJF expectations.
In 2024, following concerns voiced by some members of USA Judo, the USOPC began a review of USA Judo's implementation and administration of certain governance policies and decisions made by committees and the Board. In January 2026, the USOPC issued an Investigation Report that included various recommendations and requirements necessary for USA Judo to be deemed compliant with these USOPC directives.
In addition, in November of 2024, USA Judo launched a Bylaw Task Force to accomplish two things: 1. Ensuring compliance with USOPC best practices and audit requirements and 2. Ensuring compliance with the IJF Statutes (as the IJF had stated that member organizations would not be recognized if they failed to follow the IJF Statutes). This was a monumental task in creating a balance between the requirements of the IJF and also the requirements of the USOPC, which didn’t always align.
On Monday of this week, we received a letter from the USOPC stating that USA Judo had addressed the recommendations and requirements of the January 2026 Investigation Report and that the USOPC has closed the matter. In addition, the USOPC accepted the revised USA Judo Bylaws, which had been approved for posting by the Board at the September 16, 2026, Board Meeting. Prior to this Board of Directors meeting, we also received approval of the revised Bylaws from President Vizer and the IJF.
The combined efforts of so many people made this possible, including hundreds of individual hours devoted to aggressively and responsively working to achieve this goal. This could not have been accomplished without the guidance of IJF President Marius Vizer, and the efforts of Mr. Tamas Vas, IJF Legal Counsel, and IJF General Secretary, Lisa Allan.
USA Judo Chief Executive Officer, Corinne Shigemoto, and USA Judo Legal Counsel, Laura Macaulay, were key individuals in keeping us on course through this long journey as we met timelines on audit reports and compliance task completions over several months. Our many thanks go to Mr. Dave Patterson of the USOPC for his NGB Liaison guidance and to other key USOPC individuals for patiently working together with us in resolution of USOPC concerns.
Our appreciation to the "first responders" of this mission goes to Bylaw Task Force Members
Our focus must now shift back to our primary goal of providing our USA Judo athletes with the best opportunity to achieve success and reach the medal stand in Los Angeles at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2028.
This journey has made us smarter, stronger, and ultimately better. We have grown to see both inside and outside the box. And we are now more aware of what is expected of us and the future leaders of our great sport.
A better and brighter future for all of us lies ahead!
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Dr. Ron Tripp
President USA Judo
