Colton Brown, a NJ Olympian from Piscataway

by Alice Magdziak • July 23, 2016 • Middlesex, Sports & Leisure • Comments (0) • 2512

We’re highlighting all the New Jersey Olympians this summer because there are so many to watch for. Colton Brown is from Piscataway and will compete for the United States in Judo.

Colton Brown is 24 years old which makes him the youngest Judo participant for the United States. He is ranked number one in the United States in his weight class and 25th in the world.

Colton attended San Jose State University and was NCAA champion three times there. He then went on to become 2015 Pan-Am champion. He qualified for Rio by taking the last available spot. He was ranked 22nd and only 22 athletes make the team.

Brown began his career in judo following an injury suffered in another sport. After breaking his leg while playing football when he was only eight years old, Brown dropped out of all sports. After the pressuring of his father, Colton Brown was placed into judo, and he began to fall in love. He learned from Yoshiada Yonezuka, a two-time U.S. Olympic Team coach, who pushed him to train at Nihon University in Japan after graduating high school in order to take him to the next level. Yonezuka passed away in 2014, so Brown wants to be able to medal for him.

Judo begins on August 6th and concludes on August 12th.

We’ll keep you apprised of when each NJ athlete will compete so stay tuned to YDKJ for all the NJ Olympian news you can handle!

[photo via TeamUSA.org and bio info via DoubleGSports.com]