USA?s Judoka Joins Elite League Alongside Ronda Rousey After Claiming Historic Feat at Junior World Judo Championship

The US has been making some headway into the world of judo with several new emerging fighters. While several veterans have already made their mark in IJF, the fire from junior judokas has always been missing. However, a rising star has proven his global merit after pulling off a remarkable feat and directly standing alongside Ronda Rousey.

Young judo sensation Jack Yonezuka fought his way to the final round and won the silver medal after a tough battle. The US judoka made history after becoming the third US junior judo practitioner to ever win a world medal. In fact, he?s only the third junior judoka to win two junior world medals after Ronda Rousey and Kayla Harrison.

Yonezuka converts his bronze to silver after causing a semi-final upset

Jack Yonezuka improved his Junior World Judo Championship campaign from last year by making his maiden appearance in the finals. The 20-year-old kept climbing the ladder but faced a very tough opponent in the semi-finals. Japan?s 2022 World Cadet Champion Kihara blocked Yonezuka?s ticket to the final round. Kihara was the favorite candidate to advance to the finals, but Yonezuka caused a major upset and powered through to the finals. However, while the 73kg US judoka crushed one Japanese opponent, another one bested him in the finals.?

USA Judo posted a reel on Instagram to celebrate the stellar Junior Judo World Championship campaign of Yonezuka. The reel showed him and his excellent groundwork that yielded him the silver medal. USA Judo wrote,??Writing his name in the history books again. Jack Yonezuka becomes the first U.S. man to win silver at the Junior World Championships!”.

“@thejudoman joins Olympic medalists @judokayla and @rondarousey as the only U.S. athletes to medal at Junior Worlds twice, adding silver to his 2022 bronze.??Yonezuka is currently riding a fiery 2023 and has claimed several international gold medals as well.?

In 2023, he won gold medals at the African Open, Pan American Open, US Open Fort, and Junior European Cup. Yonezuka, unfortunately, couldn?t add a world gold medal to his highly successful year. This shows that he still has a lot to learn from his senior, Ronda Rousey. In fact, while Rousey won the junior gold medal at 17, she also made her Olympic debut the same year in 2004.

The junior judo cannonball named Ronda Rousey

Ronda Rousey has immortalized her name in the world of combat sports. While she is popularly known for her MMA career at UFC, Ronda Rousey was also a mammoth judo fighter. Rousey qualified for the 2004 Olympics and entered Athens as the youngest Olympic competitor that year. Although her maiden appearance didn?t yield any medals, she went on to claim the Junior World Championship gold in Budapest the same year.

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Ronda Rousey also claimed consecutive gold medals at the Pan American Championships in 2004 and 2005. The young Olympian originally competed in the 63kg weight class, but moved to the 70kg weight class and won the Olympics bronze in 2008. Her judo exploits later pushed her as a pioneer in women?s MMA, where she was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2018. The US sees a similar light in Jack Yonezuka, who has already touched one Ronda Rousey milestone. Will he be able to continue his winning juggernaut forward?

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