James "Jimmy" Pedro Sr (born November 6, 1946) is a former national level judoka from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and an alternate for the US 1976

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, 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 Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

team. Jimmy Pedro started Judo at the age of 19, earning his

black belt Black Belt may refer to: Martial arts * Black belt (martial arts), an indication of attainment of expertise in martial arts * ''Black Belt'' (magazine), a magazine covering martial arts news, technique, and notable individuals Places * Black B ...

in 2 years. Jimmy won the black belt division at the 1971 Taka Invitational Tournament, and went on to win the 1972 New England AAU Tournament. He earned bronze in the 1974 Senior Nationals, and bronze in the 1974 Pan American Championships. Jimmy trained with Olympians

Jimmy Martin James Henry Martin (August 10, 1927 – May 14, 2005) was an American bluegrass musician, known as the "King of Bluegrass". Early years Martin was born in Sneedville, Tennessee, United States, and was raised in the hard farming life of rural ...

and

Pat Burris Patrick Mitsugi Burris (born December 28, 1950) is a retired competitive judoka who represented the United States at the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich and the 1976 Summer Olympic Games in Montreal. He won the bronze medal at the 1975 Pan ...

and was selected to take part in the 1975 American Team to Challenge Europe's best judoka. In the US National Championships, James earned a silver in 1978, a bronze in 1979, and a silver in 1980. In 1978, Jimmy Pedro was selected to the Black Belt Magazine Hall of Fame as a judo coach. He coached his son,

Jimmy Pedro James A. Pedro (born October 30, 1970) is an American retired World Championship and Olympic judoka and current judo coach. Pedro currently holds a 7th degree black belt in judo. He is the coach of Kayla Harrison, the first American ever to w ...

who became the first person from the U.S. to take home two Olympic medals., and went on to be selected as the 2012 US Olympic Team Assistant Coach.

References

American male judoka Living people 1946 births American people of Portuguese descent {{US-judo-bio-stub