Jimmy Pedro:
2004 Judo
Competitor of the Year
Jimmy Pedro:
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The Lawrence, Massachusetts, resident is one of the most respected judoka in the United States. Since first taking up the art at the tender age of 5, he’s been throwing opponents and sweeping scoreboards. Indeed, over the past decade, the winner’s dais has been a second home for the fifth-degree black belt as he snagged one top honor after another on the national and international circuits. Pedro’s storied competition career includes six national-championship titles, a plethora of gold medals in open tournaments, a bronze medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and the world-championship title in 1999. In 2004, as a final testament to his prowess on the mat, he won a second bronze in Athens, Greece, and became the first American judoka to win two Olympic medals. Pedro hadn’t initially intended to participate in the 2004 Olympics. Indeed, he decided to retire from competition after placing fifth at the 2000 games in Sydney, Australia. Disappointed, he returned to the United States and joined the marketing department at Monster (formerly Monster.com) to work on the company’s Olympic sponsorship program. However, the Olympic bug bit again while he was attending the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City. “It just inspired me to give it one more shot while I was still young enough and capable enough of having a good performance,” he said. With the blessing of his family and his employer, Pedro embarked on a rigorous regimen. Executives at Monster realized that his participation would also be good exposure for the company and agreed to sponsor his training. With the experience of three previous Olympics under his black belt, Pedro had the advantage over athletes who were entering for the first time. Nonetheless, the 33-year-old knew he’d have a tough road ahead after being away from the competitive circuit for two years. He enlisted his father, Jim Pedro Sr., an alternate for the 1976 U.S. Olympic judo team, to coach him. During the 18 months leading up to the Olympic trials, he trained at least five days a week and fought in 75 matches to get back in shape. “I started competing much more regularly than I ever had in the past,” he said. “That’s quite a bit of experience in a hurry. I think it’s what has allowed me to get back to where I am today, which is right up at the top of my game.” In Athens, Pedro won his first two matches. He looked set to snag the gold, but defending world-champion Won Hee Lee (Korea) defeated him with an ippon, thus sinking the American’s chance to take home the elusive medal. Disappointed but undeterred, Pedro rallied his strength and determination to focus on the job at hand and went for the bronze. He scored a particularly sweet victory over Anatoly Laryukov (Belarus), who sent Pedro home empty-handed in 2000. “The last time I faced him, he threw me [and] won by a full point,” Pedro said. “The next time I saw him, I beat him for a sudden death in overtime. It was a very exciting, nail-biting, down-to-the-last-second match.” Fifteen minutes later, he went on to exact revenge on Gennadiy Bilodid (Ukraine), who beat him at the finals in Hungary in March 2004. He subsequently defeated 2003 world-champion silver-medalist Daniel Fernandes of France, earning himself a second bronze medal. Since retiring, Pedro has resumed a well-rounded life that focuses on his family and a successful career as a national sales executive for Zebra Mats. He also remains active in the judo community, teaching part time at Pedro's Judo Center in Massachusetts, producing instructional DVDs and teaching seminars around the country. His main message to aspiring judo champions is, Don’t let your life be consumed by the sport. “Get out there and [get] a degree,” he advises. “You have to have something else in your life so when you’re done 10 years from now, you won’t look back and say, ‘Oh, geez, I gave everything up.’ “Although I pursued the Olympic dream, I never put my life on hold. I got married. I started having kids. I had a family and a life outside judo. That balance has allowed me to go through life without ever having felt like I missed out on something.” For Jimmy Pedro, Olympic glory is just icing on the cake. Black Belt is pleased to honor him as its 2004 Judo Competitor of the Year. (This profile originally appeared in the November 2005 issue of Black Belt.) 
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