January signifies the back end of the Olympic point race leading into the 2008 Nationals. Some folks are scattering to maintain and or recover their number one ranking because of the advantage it holds in the Olympic Trials. The number one competitor entering the Olympic Trials only has to win the eight man pool during the day. Assuming their weight division is qualified in the Pan American region, they are at that point considered Olympians. If the number one competitor loses at any point during the day, they are then forced into a best of three match fight-off to decide the winner. The point position at the close of the 2008 Nationals will decide the ranking of the competitors in the Trials. For most of the men, the last real hope to grab points is the NYAC NY Open, March 9th, which is a C-Level event for Americans. For the women, whom fair better in International competition, the European tour provides a huge opportunity to make some gains or increase their lead. Below is the list of competition selections for males and females.
Most likely to attain medals:
Females
Ronda Rousey and Valerie Gotay
Males
Ryan Reser and Taraje Williams-Murray
Women’s Europen Tour Schedule
|
48kg |
52kg |
57kg |
63kg |
70kg |
78kg |
||
| Sofia World Cup (A) - Bulgaria | Jan. 26-27 | - | - | - | - | Katie Mocco | |
| Paris Super World Cup (A+) - France | Feb. 9-10 | - | Valerie Gotay | Marti Malloy | Ronda Rousey | Nina Cutro-Kelly | |
| Budapest World Cup (A) - Hungary | Feb. 16-17 | Anna Palmer | Valerie Gotay | Marti Malloy | Ronda Rousey | Katie Mocco | |
| Hamburg Super World Cup (A+) - Germany | Feb. 22-24 | - | Anna Palmer | Janine Nakao | - | Nina Cutro-Kelly | |
| Warsaw World Cup (A) - Poland | March 1-2 | Sayaka Matsumoto | Anna Palmer | - | Emily Lilly | - | Nikki Kubes |
| Rome World Cup (A)- Italy | May 17-18 | Angela Cretuzberger | Nicki Schultheis | Carrie Chandler | - | - | Katie Mocco |
Men’s Europen Tour Schedule
|
60kg |
66kg |
73kg |
81kg |
90kg |
100kg |
+100kg |
||
| Tblissi World Cup (A) - Georgia | Jan. 26-27 | - | - | - | Aaron Cohen | - | - | |
| Paris Super World Cup (A+) - France | Feb.
9-10 |
Aaron Kunihiro | Kenny Hashimoto | Michael Eldred | Travis Stevens | Rick Hawn | Adler Volmar | Daniel McCormick |
| Vienna World Cup (A) - Austria | Feb. 16-17 | Taraje Williams-Murray | Taylor Takata | Ryan Reser | Travis Stevens | Rick Hawn | Adler Volmar | Anthony Turner |
| Prague World Cup (A) - Czech Republic | March 1-2 | Josh O’Neil | Taylor Takata | Ryan Reser | Garry St. Leger | Shintaro Higashi | - | |
| Oslo World Cup (A)- Norway | May 17-18 | Nick Kossor | Jeremy Liggett | Nick Delpopolo | Travis Stevens | Brian Olson | Adler Volmar | - |
Tour Schedule Retrieved from USAJudo.org
