RUSTY KANOKOGI - NEW YORK 2012 BID MEMBER - DRIVEN TO
PROMOTE WOMEN'S JUDO BY "SOMEONE WHO RATTED ON HER" WHILE FIGHTING IN THE 1950's
MEN'S LEAGUE! Read the full story
JULY 18th BROOKLYN HEIGHTS COURIER The Big Apple did not win the 2012
Olympics, but New Yorkers should be proud of the mayor and his team,
said a Brooklyn-based judo champ and city delegate to Singapore.
"Mayor
Bloomberg was incredible," said Rusty Kanokogi, who is also the president of the
NY State Judo, Inc., after hearing that New York's bid was defeated at the
meeting of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on July 6. "He was with us
every single step of the way: When we found out we lost, he was consoling us."
"I am tall and outweigh him by 50 pounds," she said. "But I looked to him for
support."
New York's bid, which would have generated some $12 billion for the city, was
eliminated in the second round. If the decision had been based on the final
presentation, New York would have won, said Kanokogi, who lives on East 17tn
Street in Gravesend.
"I'm terribly disappointed that it wasn't us but, you know,
we have no regrets," Bloomberg said after the
IOC
decision was announced. "We had every reason to be proud of how we did it. It
was a wonderful experience for those that participated, which I would define as
everybody in New York City."
"The volunteers, athletes and business people, were super-duper dedicated,"
Kanokogi said. "They had a common bond and wanted the same thing to happen. If
the presentation was the only thing, we would have won it. If I was a Martian, I
would have voted for New York."
The New York presentation included a live appearance from Sen. Hillary Clinton,
and comments from President George W. Bush and former President Bill Clinton.
The bid also included a star-studded cast: Muhammad Ali, Janet Evans, Jackie
Joyner-Kersee, Ian Thorpe, and Nadia Comaneci.
But many were surprised when New York was eliminated in the second round after
Moscow, Kanokogi said.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's decision to nix the centerpiece of New York's
bid — Manhattan's West Side Stadium — and the last-minute switch to a new venue
adjacent to the Shea Stadium may have hurt the bid, according to U.S. Olympic
Committee chairman Peter Ueberroth.
Kanokogi, who has attended every Olympic event since 1980, except Sidney,
Australia, said New Yorkers were not as passionate about winning the Olympics
from other cities, and this may have influenced the IOC.
London beat Paris, widely held as the favorite, in the fourth and final ballot,
54 against 50.
Kanokogi said that the British bid, led by UK gold medalist and former member of
Parliament Sebastian Coe, won partly because their "humanist" bid, and also
because of his "trustworthy" personality.
"Sebastian Coe is an outstanding person and loved all over the world, and having
him do the presentation might have helped London win," said Kanokogi. "He is
very humble and sincere."
The bid also emphasized the revitaliza-tion of the poorer district in Hackney in
London.
Britain last hosted the Games in 1948. The United States hosted the Olympics
four times in the last 25 years, including: Lake Placid, 1980; Los Angeles,
1984; Atlanta, 1996; and Salt Lake City, 2002.
Kanokogi, a six-degree black belt and perhaps the highest-ranked American woman
in Judo, was proud to represent New York, but her heart is in Brooklyn.
"When asked, I don't say I am from New York," Kanokogi said. "I say I am from
Brooklyn, New York. I am very proud of my borough."
In March, Kanokogi received a New York Open Lifetime Achievement Award in March
at the New York Open Judo Championship, for her work toward equality in the
international world of judo.
Kanokogi started competing in the late 1950s, when no women were allowed to
compete in Judo leagues. Then in a competition in Utica, N.Y., the muscular
Kanokogi, wearing short hair, represented Brooklyn in a men-only team. She was
disqualified after "someone ratted" on her.
"That
gave me the full thrust to never let this happen to a woman again," she said,
and the incident promoted her to start to fight to get women accepted in local
competitions. Women were accepted to compete in national judo competitions in
1974. The first time the U.S. team competed internationally was in 1976, at the
British Open in Crystal Palace, London. Women were first recognized in the
Olympics at the 1988 Games in Seoul, Korea, taking home silver and bronze
medals.
Kanokogi also runs exchanges with women's teams around the world including
Europe, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America, at the Berkeley-Carroll School
athletics center at 181 Lincoln Place. She said the exchanges become great
social events. "We go to Coney Island, hang out and go eat hot dogs," she said.
Kanokogi said she also teaches at-risk kids because judo helped her when she was
running into trouble as a youth.
"I was a bad kid and judo turned my life around," Kanokogi said. "Many students
go on to compete in other sports at the varsity level, she said.
A recent Daily News poll found that 58 percent of New Yorkers should gun for the
2016 Games.
The poll also indicated that losing the Olympic bid had not hurt Bloomberg's
popularity, as he has 61 percent support among registered voters.
So far, Bloomberg has declined to say whether the city will compete for the 2016
Games.
NY State Judo, Inc. runs a fall program at the Berkeley-Carroll School athletic
center in Park Slope starting in September. For more information, contact
judorustyk@aol.com.
Article printed with the permission of Rusty Kanokogi 23/7/05
said a Brooklyn-based judo champ and city delegate to Singapore.
"Mayor
Bloomberg was incredible," said Rusty Kanokogi, who is also the president of the
NY State Judo, Inc., after hearing that New York's bid was defeated at the
meeting of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on July 6. "He was with us
every single step of the way: When we found out we lost, he was consoling us."
"I am tall and outweigh him by 50 pounds," she said. "But I looked to him for
support."
IOC
decision was announced. "We had every reason to be proud of how we did it. It
was a wonderful experience for those that participated, which I would define as
everybody in New York City."
Kanokogi, who has attended every Olympic event since 1980, except Sidney,
Australia, said New Yorkers were not as passionate about winning the Olympics
from other cities, and this may have influenced the IOC.
"That
gave me the full thrust to never let this happen to a woman again," she said,
and the incident promoted her to start to fight to get women accepted in local
competitions. Women were accepted to compete in national judo competitions in
1974. The first time the U.S. team competed internationally was in 1976, at the
British Open in Crystal Palace, London. Women were first recognized in the
Olympics at the 1988 Games in Seoul, Korea, taking home silver and bronze
medals.
