Olympian Marti Malloy eager to make another run at judo gold

Marti Malloy’s father introduced her to judo when she was 6 years old. The medals and trophies quickly began piling up in her bedroom.

“I was good right away,” the Olympian said. “My coach told me the right thing to do, and I did it. My first tournament I beat every other little girl, and some boys, in less than 10 seconds. After that, I would fight in two categories, so I was always coming home with two gold medals. It was positive reinforcement.”

Malloy left home when she was 16 to train, prompting her mother to box the trophies and medals and store them in the attic.

“If you go up there and turn the light on, you’re blinded,” said Malloy, a native of Whidbey Island, Wash.

Malloy, 29, wants to be blinded by gold again after getting bronze in London four years ago. She ranks first in the U.S. and fourth in the world in her 57-kilogram weight class.

“I think it’s been a long time coming,” Malloy said. “I’ve always dreamed of taking the gold medal. I fell short the last time. So, for me, it wasn’t a big question, or it didn’t take a lot of thought, about whether I wanted to go through that process again. I knew I wanted to give it another shot at trying to come back and win a gold medal.”

Malloy, an ambassador for Dollamur Sport Surfaces, visited the company’s Fort Worth headquarters last week after coaching in the Senior National Championships in Irving.

Malloy then flew to Boston for a two-week training camp to get ready for a second Olympic Games. She came close to making the U.S. team in 2008 before taking the Olympic bronze in 2012.

Malloy lost to Romania’s Corina Caprioriu in the semifinal in London before beating Italy’s Giulia Quintavalle in the repechage to take third. She called it the most exciting day of her life.

“Late at night, when I finally returned to the athletes’ village, I sat on my bed and said, ‘Whoa, did that all just happen? It wasn’t a dream?’ ” said Malloy, who makes her home training base in San Jose, Calif. “It was surreal for sure.”

For now, Malloy’s biggest claim to fame remains Ronda Rousey’s respect for her. In Rousey’s book, My Fight / Your Fight, the MMA star credits Malloy with being the only opponent ever to beat her, as the two competed through the junior ranks.

But a couple of gold medals would mean more to Malloy. She has committed to at least one more year after the Olympics in an attempt to win the world championships.

“I came close in 2013, losing to a Brazilian girl in Brazil,” Malloy said. “So I want another shot at it.”

This story was originally published April 19, 2016 at 6:17 PM with the headline "Olympian Marti Malloy eager to make another run at judo gold."