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It's principle over
Olympics
Matsumoto passes up
chance to qualify for Athens Games in judo
By Jeff Faraudo, STAFF
WRITER
EL CERRITO -- Sayaka Matsumoto will enter the Judo
Olympic Trials on Saturday at San Jose State as the
favorite to win but with virtually no chance of
advancing to compete in the Athens Olympics. And it's
her own fault.
Matsumoto, a 21-year-old El Cerrito resident, is a
young woman whose talent may be exceeded only by her
sense of fair play.
"Nine out of 10 people wouldn't have done what
she did," said David Matsumoto, her father and
coach.
What Matsumoto did was choose to remain in her usual
48-kilogram (105.5-pound) division Saturday, when opting
to compete up a weight at 52 kilograms (114.5 pounds)
might have provided her an avenue to Athens.
The U.S. did not qualify to send a woman to the
Olympics in Matsumoto's weight class but does have a
spot at 52 kilograms. When Matsumoto fought at 52
kilograms "basically for fun" at the nationals
at San Diego in April, and won, she earned the right to
choose between the two at the trials.
Last month, she decided to stay at 48 kilograms.
"In the moment, I really would like to take a
shot at making it in 52, just for the purpose of making
the Olympics," she said. "But for the long run
and my development, it's better to stay at 48 and keep
competing."
Matsumoto said there was another reason behind her
choice.
"For me to move up all of a sudden and just do
it to make the team, it becomes more of a moral
issue," she said, reflecting on friends in the 52
kg class whose goals might be impacted by her decision.
"There wasn't any sadness, because I realized I
was making the right decision."
David Matsumoto, who coaches two other women at the
East Bay Judo Institute who will compete at the trials,
said it's important for his daughter's development that
she has identified her place as a 48-kilogram player in
the sport.
He's most pleased Sayaka's moral compass is pointed
in the right direction.
"Personally, she would feel it would be too
opportunistic to make it in another category, even
though she qualified for it," David Matsumoto said.
"I'm more proud of her as a father for making the
decision than anything else. To give up the chance to go
to Athens, because she has the character to take a moral
stand like that which involves a sacrifice, is really
tremendous.
"For her, these are issues that will help define
her character in the long run. I don't think she really
understands that now. Ten years from now, she will look
back on this, and it will be one of the things that
shaped her moral integrity."
Of course, Matsumoto would not have been a sure thing
to win Saturday in either weight class. But she is a
four-time defending national champion and, as the top
seed at 48 kilograms, can take the title from the field
of five competitors by winning just two matches.
Matsumoto, who graduated from St. Mary's High in
Berkeley and has taken a three-semester break at Cal to
train, spent the past two years trying to earn the
U.S. an Olympic berth at 48 kilograms.
Spots are awarded through a points system, based on
the performance at major international events, including
the Pan American Games and the World Championships.
Matsumoto finished just seventh last July at the Pan
Am Games in the Dominican Republic, unable to overcome
100-degree temperatures in the arena, a tough draw and
simply a bad day. "That's basically the reason I
didn't qualify," she said.
Her father said that simplifies the process a bit too
much, and explained Sayaka might still be chosen to
accompany the U.S. team to Athens as a training partner.
But he knows that won't entirely soothe the sting
Saturday night if she wins.
"I expect her to be emotional about it -- this
is competition," David Matsumoto said. "There
will be people who think she's nuts, who think I'm nuts.
"But in thinking about the development of a
person as a whole, it's difficult to argue against it.
We need more athletes like that these days."
Matsumoto, who began taking judo lessons at age 5 and
became a national-level competitor at 16, looks forward
to her turn coming at the 2008 Games in Beijing.
"Hopefully, I can look back on my experience and
know it made me a stronger player in the end," she
said. "The sweet is not as sweet without the
sour."
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