Among these, six are Olympic weight divisions for which athletes will be competing for valuable points toward qualification for both the 2008 Olympic Games and the 2007 Pan American Games, July 19-22.

A breakdown of athletes competing is as follows:

Women’s 44kg
Alexa Liddie (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center) will be competing in her first Senior Pan American Championships as a 16-year-old. Liddie will compete in a round-robin in this non-Olympic weight division against Andrea Madgett (CAN) and Maria Velazquez (VEN).

Women’s 48kg
Sixteen-year-old Jeanette Rodriguez (Coral Springs, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami) also will be competing in her first Senior Pan Ams. This year’s Pan Am Junior Champion, Rodriguez has beat top players internationally, but will open her day with her hardest match yet, fighting the winner of reigning Junior and Senior World Champion Yanet Bermoy (CUB) and Isabel Latulippe (CAN), a five-time World Cup medalist. A win there means a nearly guaranteed shot at the final, but a loss would likely put Rodriguez fighting her next match against whichever of the two players she didn’t fight first.

Women’s 52kg
Like Rodriguez, 15-year-old Franchesca Durand (Coral Springs, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami) also will be under significant pressure, but with an added twist – she must place in the top five top qualify for the Pan Am Games. Failing to compete at the Games is a near guarantee of not qualifying the division for the Olympic Games as that event represents 33% of Olympic qualification points. Also like Rodriguez, Durand’s path will be far from easy as she drew Melissa Rodriguez (ARG), last year’s silver medalist first round, followed by Sheila Espinosa (CUB), a junior player who moved down from 57kg earlier this year and quickly began winning in Europe, taking gold at the Belgian Ladies’ Open and the Paris Super World Cup in back-to-back weeks. The good news is that Durand and Espinosa fought at the Junior Belgian tournament and though Durand lost, she only did so by two shidos (penalties) and was the only athlete Espinosa didn’t throw for ippon (instant win).

Women’s 57kg
Valerie Gotay (Harlingen, Texas / USA Judo National Training Site at Harlingen) will be aiming for her fifth Pan Am medal after winning bronze in 2006, gold in 2005 and a pair of silvers in lighter weight divisions nearly 17 years ago. After a first-round bye, Gotay fought Yagnelys Mestre (CUB) in the second round. Mestre is one of Cuba’s newest players and is standing in for 2001 World Champion Yurisleidis Lupetey who Gotay traditionally fights at major events. Although Gotay and Mestre haven’t fought in competition, the two trained together earlier in the month at a camp in Havanna. Gotay’s other biggest foe is expected to be Danielle Zangrando (BRA) on the other side of the bracket. Zangrando defeated Gotay during their last match at the Golden Judoguis Championships in Havanna.

Women’s Open
Heidi Moore (Englewood, Colo. / Denver Judo) will represent the United States in this non-Olympic weight division; however the draws had not yet been made available.

Men’s 55kg
Kyle Taketa (Torrance, Calif. / Gardena) is the youngest male competitor for the United States, fighting as a 15-year-old in the non-Olympic 55kg division. A six-person division, Taketa’s biggest threat could be Hiram Cruz (PUR) who beat Taketa last month in the Senior Nationals finals.

Men’s 60kg
A last-minute addition to the Team after the withdrawal of Jean Pierre Durand (Coral Springs, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami), Nick Kossor (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center) is one of only two athletes in the division not to have a first-round bye. Kossor will fight first against Arturo Ceniceros (MEX) and would have a second round against Denilson Lourenco (BRA). The division’s favorite is Frazer Will (CAN), the 5’1” 2006 Pan Am Champion who sits on the opposite side of the draw.

Men’s 66kg
Justin Flores (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center) has the hardest opening match of the day for the U.S. men, fighting 2007 Paris Super World Cup silver medalist Leandro Cunha (BRA) in the first round. If Flores picks up the win, his next toughest competitor would be on the bottom of the draw – Yordanis Arencibia (CUB). The equivalent of Cuban judo royalty, Arencibia is a three-time World and 2004 Olympic medalist who also medaled at both the Paris and Hamburg Super World Cups in February.

Men’s 73kg
After failing to place in 2006, Ryan Reser (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center) needs a top-five finish at this event to secure his slot for the Pan Am Games. A good draw means that Reser is a favorite to advance to the finals. On the other side of the bracket, watch for a possible semifinal between Ronald Girones (CUB), a fifth-place finisher in Paris, and Nick Tritton (CAN) who placed third earlier this season at the Budapest World Cup. Like Reser, Tritton was favored to medal in 2006, but didn’t place and will surely be on a quest for redemption.

Men’s Open
After finishing fifth in the 100kg division on Thursday, Adler Volmar (Coral Springs, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami) will be back for a second day of competition, fighting in the non-Olympic Open division.

For more information, contact Nicole Jomantas, USA Judo Director of Communications and Media Relations, at 719.271.9937 (cell) or Nicole.Jomantas@usajudo.us.