Judo's Takata living Olympic dream 24/7
By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer
If Clarissa Chun and Katie Kunimoto want to know what life at the Olympic Training Center is like, they can ask Taylor Takata.
Takata, a 2000 Iolani graduate from Wahiawa, has lived at the center in Colorado Springs the past 13 months while honing his judo skills for what he hopes ultimately will be an Olympic championship.
He is home until Aug. 8, resting a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee.
Takata won a state wrestling championship at Iolani in 2000, but decided after high school to concentrate on judo, in which he had won a number of junior national titles. "I enjoyed judo more," he said.
In May 2001, he was invited to reside at the center by U.S. coach Ed Liddie. Takata had gone there for summer training for years.
He transferred from San Jose State to the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. He's majoring in business, but acknowledges that judo takes up most of his time. "I try to take 12 units a semester," Takata said.
When you live at the Olympic Training Center, life revolves around your sport.
A typical day for Takata starts with running or weight training soon after his 6:30 a.m. wake-up.
If it's getting near the dates of one of the 10 or 11 competitions the USA goes to each year, he follows with a 45-minute, light judo workout. Breakfast comes next — never heavy because he has to watch his weight — and college classes four days a week, 9:30 to 1:30.
Back at the center by 2 p.m., he can have lunch or a snack — the dining hall that serves athletes in all sports is open from 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Then study or nap.
Judo practice is just two hours, from 5 to 7 p.m., but it's demanding, with contact drills, including "live" throwing.
"If I am losing weight, I do some cardio workouts (stationary bike or running) at the gym after practice," Takata said. Dinner after that, then study, relax and to sleep around 11.
In the dormitory, he has his own room, bathroom and shower, and shares a living room with a teammate.
Sunday is a day off from practice, but "I usually try to run a lot," Takata said.
Making weight for competitions is never far from his mind. He competes at 132 pounds (60 kg). Between tournaments he weighs between 142 and 145, and sometimes as much as 148. He starts trimming down a month before the event, he said.
Most of the competitions are overseas. Since he joined Team USA, Takata has been to Mexico, the Dominican Republic, England, Hungary, Canada, Argentina and the World Championships in Germany.
"It has been my best year," Takata said. "I won the Pan Am Championships in Argentina last fall, I was fifth at the Hungarian Cup in March with a lot of very good Europeans, and won the U.S. Nationals in April."
He was second at last year's U.S. Open, an international meet, and his near-term goal is to win the next one, in October.
The next world championships will be in Osaka, Japan, next year and, of course, the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, will dominate 2004.
"I'll try to stick with it through the 2008 Olympics," Takata said. And bring Hawai'i its first judo gold, he hopes.
• There, too: Former University of Hawai'i volleyball players Heather Bown, Robyn Ah Mow, Therese Crawford and Clay Stanley also reside at the Olympic Training Center.
