Taylor Takata (born April 6, 1982) is an American judoka who placed 9th at Men's

Judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

(66 kg Weight Category) in the 2008 Summer Olympics.Ranking listed on the page Judo at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's 66 kg He represented the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and comes from the state of

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

Biography

Takata was born in

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

. Following his graduation from

ʻIolani School Iolani School is a private coeducational K-12 college preparatory school in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. It serves over 2,200 students with a boarding program for grades 9 - 12 as well as a summer boarding program for middle school grades. Founded in 18 ...

, he attended

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

and

University of Colorado at Colorado Springs The University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) is a public research university in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It is one of four campuses that make up the University of Colorado system. As of Fall 2023, UCCS had over 11,000 students, incl ...

. He currently runs a

dojo A is a hall or place for immersive learning, experiential learning, or meditation. This is traditionally in the field of martial arts. The term literally means "place of the Tao, Way" in Japanese language, Japanese. History The word ''d� ...

called Hawaii Judo Academy. The club he belongs to is the USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center. He is coached by Eddie Liddie. He represented the United States at both the Junior and Senior World Championships in the 60 kg division as well as winning National Championship, Pan American and U.S. Open Titles. In 2004, he moved up to the 66 kg division. Taylor Takata has held the #1 U.S. ranking in judo this year after several years of moving among the rankings. Takata won the Olympic Trials in June 2008, earning a spot on the US Olympic team and the chance to compete in the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

. He placed 9th in the 66 kg division. What Takata has said about the Olympics:

"It's been great to be here and experience the Olympics and fight the best guys in the world."

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Takata, Taylor 1982 births ʻIolani School alumni Martial artists from Honolulu American male judoka Judoka at the 2003 Pan American Games Judoka at the 2008 Summer Olympics Living people Olympic judoka for the United States Pan American Games judoka for the United States American sportspeople of Japanese descent San Jose State University alumni San Jose State Spartans judoka 21st-century American sportsmen