Ricardo Blas Jr. (born October 19, 1986) is a judoka from Guam who competed at the

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. The son of Ricardo Blas, himself a judoka and Olympic competitor, Blas Jr. began training at the age of five and eventually earned the nickname "The Little Mountain" due to his weight. He entered the heavyweight event at the 2008 Games on a wild card selection as the Oceania bronze medalist, losing all his bouts in both the main and repechage stages of the competition. He participated again at the 2012 edition and was eliminated in the second round of the tournament. At , he is the heaviest competitor at the modern Olympic Games.

Early life

Blas was born on October 19, 1986, the son of Ricardo Blas. The elder Blas was a judoka who competed for Guam at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

in Seoul, placing joint-19th in the men's heavyweight competition, after losing his only bout. Following in the footsteps of his father, who as of 2008 was serving as the president of the

Guam National Olympic Committee Guam National Olympic Committee (IOC code: GUM) is the National Olympic Committee representing Guam. References Guam Guam at the Olympics Oly Oly may refer to: * Oly, informal name for Olympia, Washington, United States * OLY (: ), po ...

, he began training in judo at the age of five, attended a judo college in Japan, and eventually earned the designation of being a

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 the sport. He was larger than his peers as a child and eventually gained the nickname "The Little Mountain".

Competitive career

Prior to the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

in Beijing, Blas had found success at the international level in judo, having earned a bronze medal at the

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

and

2007 Pacific Games The 2007 South Pacific Games were held in Apia, Samoa, from 25 August to 8 September 2007. The Games were the thirteenth to be held since the inception of the South Pacific Games in 1963, and included traditional multi-sport event disciplines, su ...

, and was considered a household name in Guam. Going into the men's heavyweight event at the Games he had placed seventh in the +100 kg category at the

2007 World Judo Championships The 2007 World Judo Championships are the 25th edition of the Judo World Championships, and were held at the Rio Olympic Arena, usually called ''Arena Multiuso'', that was built for the 2007 Pan-American Games, in Jacarepaguá, Rio de Janeiro, B ...

. He had also been selected as the flagbearer for his nation's six-member

delegation Delegation is the assignment of authority to another person (normally from a manager to a subordinate) to carry out specific activities. It is the process of distributing and entrusting work to another person,Schermerhorn, J., Davidson, P., Poole ...

. At the officially recorded weight of he was the heaviest competitor not only at the Beijing Olympics, but most likely at any modern Olympic Games, as he surpassed the previous Olympic weight record by . He lost his first bout against

Lasha Gujejiani Lasha Gujejiani (Georgian:ლაშა გუჯეჯიანი)(born August 12, 1985) is a Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian e ...

of Georgia, suffering a penalty for stalling, and later claimed that he simply "froze up". He qualified for the repechage because Gujejiani reached the semifinals of the main competition, but was defeated by Daniel McCormick of the United States, having been penalized again, this time for stepping out of bounds in the final 30 seconds. In 2009 he placed second, behind

Cedric Medeuf Cedric () is a masculine given name invented by Walter Scott in the 1819 novel ''Ivanhoe''.Sir Walter Scott, Graham Tulloch (ed.), ''Ivanhoe'', vol. 8 of The Edinburgh Edition of the Waverley Novels, Edinburgh University Press, 1998, , "explanato ...

of France in the men's +100 kg event at that year's U.S. Open. Blas returned for the

in London in the +100kg division, with a reported weight . After winning his first bout against

Facinet Keita Facinet Keita (born 23 March 1984 in Conakry, Guinea) is a Guinean judoka who competed in the Men's 100+ kg category at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He lost to Ricardo Blas, Jr. in the first round. Keita was the flag bearer for Guinea at t ...

of Guinea, he was beaten by Cuba's

Óscar Brayson Óscar René Brayson Vidal (also spelled ''Braison''; born 10 February 1985) is a Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla ...

in the second round. His defeat of Keita, however, made him the first judoka from Guam to reach the second round of an Olympic tournament.

References

External links

*
Picture of Ricardo Blas' father from the 1988 Olympics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blas, Ricardo Jr. 1986 births Living people Guamanian male judoka Judoka at the 2008 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic judoka for Guam People from Tamuning, Guam