RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (WHDH) - Kayla Harrison is chasing gold once again in women’s judo.
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Harrison made history in 2012, when she won her first gold.
She has trained with some of the best in the world. One of them was Olympic medalist and former UFC champ, Ronda Rousey.
Harrison talked to 7’s Nancy Chen about their special bond.
They’re two of the strongest women in competitive fighting.
Harrison is the first American to win Olympic gold in judo, and Rousey is the first American woman to medal in judo.
Now, Rousey is a professional MMA fighter.
Both learned the ins and outs of the sport at Pedro’s Judo Center in Wakefield.
“Ronda was my teammate, my roommate, training partner back when I first moved here,” Kayla said.
Kayla met Ronda when she first moved to Massachusetts at the age of 16.
She became Ronda’s training partner for the 2008 Olympic Games, and even traveled to Beijing.
“She’s probably the only other girl I’ve ever met who hates to lose as much me,” Kayla said.
Ronda later left judo to fight in the UFC, but the two Olympians still keep in touch.
Kayla said she reached out to Ronda while recovering from knee surgery after the London Games.
“I was feeling pretty, like, down,” she said. “And she always used to have a really good playlist like ridiculous crazy weird music that I’d never ever be able to find, so I sent her a text. I was like ‘Hey Ron do you have any good jams?’ And she was like ‘Oh,’ and she send me pictures of like 35 new songs and I was like, ‘OK! Thank you!”
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