Less than two months after the Pan American Championships held in May in Montreal, Team USA will be competing not only for gold, but for Olympic qualification points as the placings of each nation constitute a third of the total points needed to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Competition begins at 10 a.m. with the preliminary matches at Rio Centro Pavilion 4. Medal rounds begin at 2 p.m.

Kirk Hoffmann (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center) won his second Pan American medal with a bronze in the +100kg division at the Pan Am Championships in Montreal on May 24.

This time, with Brazil sending a significantly different men’s team, expect a shakeup in the seeding as five of the seven Brazilian men come in unranked.

Reigning Champion Oscar Brayson (CUB) will earn the top seed while Hoffmann and Joel Brutus (HAI) will be on the bottom of the draw as the #2 and #3 seeds.

Hoffmann and Brutus have fought four times this year with Brutus throwing Hoffmann in the semifinals of the Senior Nationals and Hoffmann beating Brutus in the semis of the New York Open in March and twice during the Pan American Games and World Team Trials which were held in conjunction with the Senior Nationals.

The wildcard in this draw will be Joao Schlittler (BRA) who ordinarily would be a favorite in the division, but will be unseeded here and will undoubtedly serve as a spoiler.

Asma Sharif (Wakefield, Mass. / USA Judo National Team FORCE) will be competing not only in her first Pan American Championships, but also her first international competition as a heavyweight.

A former National medalist in the 70kg and 78kg divisions, Sharif moved up to +78kg in March and has been undefeated in the division, earning her slot on the Pan Am Team after defeating the top-ranked American twice at the Pan American Games and World Team Trials in April.

Almost guaranteed to be the smallest in the nine-person division, Sharif has used her speed as an advantage in U.S. competition and hopes to translate that into success on the international scene.

As a newcomer, Sharif will come in unseeded in a nine-person division where all but two players will receive first-round byes.

Two-time reigning Champion Ivis Duenas (CUB) will hold the top seed with Melissa Mojica (PUR) on the bottom of the bracket. Third and fourth seeds should go to Vanessa Zambotti (MEX) and Carmen Chala (ECU). Also watch out for Giovanna Blanco (VEN), last year’s Pan Am silver medalist.

For more information, contact Nicole Jomantas, USA Judo Director of Communications and Media Relations at 011-55-21-8890-3155 or Nicole.Jomantas@usajudo.us.