Mutia falls to Japan in opening round; Paralympic veterans Ben Goodrich and Katie Davis to close out Tokyo 2020NE Paralympic Games

It is tough to beat top notch competition on their home turf, especially when your sport is Judo and you come up against Japan at the venerable Nippon Budokan in the land of the sport’s origin. Particularly at the internationally elite level, all athletes know that the draw can be the difference between an early exit and getting to the medal rounds. This was the case for USA Judo’s Maria Liana Mutia (Chicago, Ill./Colorado Springs, Colo./Tohkon, El Toro Judo and Black Ice Judo/Colorado State University) who drew Japan’s Hiroko Kudo in the opening round of the women’s -63kg division. Mutia competed gamely, but eventually fell to Kudo by the score of Ippon with a Waza-ari O-uchi-gari at the 3:17 mark and another at the 1:47 mark. Despite an earlier than anticipated exit, Mutia gained valuable Paralympic experience.

USA Judo’s two Paralympic veterans, Katie Davis (2012 U.S. Paralympian, Sacramento, Calif./over 70kg female) and 2016 U.S. Paralympian Ben Goodrich (St. Paul, Minn./Colorado Springs, Colo./CSOPTC Judo Club/University of Minnesota/under 100kg male) round out USA Judo’s Tokyo 2020 U.S. Paralympic Team will both compete on Sunday, August 29th, the final day of visually impaired judo at the Tokyo 2020ne Paralympic Games. Goodrich will be first up, competing in the eighth match on tatami #2 against Anatolii Shevchenko of the Russian Paralympic Committee. Davis will face Italy’s Carolina Costa five matches later in the 13th match on tatami #2. Both Goodrich and Davis are starting in the quarterfinals meaning that even with a loss, they will advance to the repechage so both are guaranteed at least two matches.

The first session of the day scheduled from 10:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. local time in Tokyo, Japan (7:30 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. on August 28th Mountain Daylight Time) with competition in the Men’s -90kg, Men’s -100kg, Men’s +100kg; Women’s -70kg and Women’s -70kg divisions from elimination through repechage stages. The medal round is scheduled from 4:30 p.m. – 7:50 p.m. local time in Tokyo, Japan (1:30 a.m. - 5:50 a.m. on August 29th Mountain Daylight Time). For USA viewers please check the latest schedule on NBCOlympics.com for streaming and viewing options for each match.

The team is coached by Heidi Moore and her husband Stephen Scott Moore a three-time Paralympic medalist ((2000 Gold, 1996 Bronze and 2004 Bronze) whom together run the Denver Judo Club in Denver, Colo. USA Judo member Marc Vink (Riverton, N.J.) is also in Tokyo serving as Team Leader.

The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic visually impaired judo tournament is taking place August 27-29, 2021 in the historic Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan, the host venue of the first ever Olympic Judo competition in 1964 and most recently the Tokyo 2020ne Olympic Games competition in July. (Judo Paralympic Schedule)

For more information, please contact Cecil Bleiker, USA Judo Communications Specialist at +1-719-330-2062. This press release is also available on the USA Judo website at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Judo.