The COVID-19 pandemic has shaken up the sports world in more ways than one in the past year. One of the biggest consequences of the pandemic in how it affected sports was the Tokyo 2020 Olympics getting postponed to the summer of 2021. It's the first time the Olympics have not been held on schedule since 1944. Now with the weather heating up, it's another reminder that in less than three months, our very own Team USA will be in Tokyo participating in the 2020 Summer Olympic Games. And for Tokyo 2020, Team USA has no shortage of New Jersey olympians.
Kara Kohler Rowing Her Way to Tokyo
Kara Kohler, rower in the women's quad sculls, was born and raised in Clayton, Calif., but now currently resides in Princeton, N.J.. During her high school years, Kohler was a swimmer. In 2008, she competed at both the Janet Evans Grand Prix Swim Meet at USC as well as the Pacific Swimming North America Cup Challenge. She planned to pursue swimming professionally in college, but switched to rowing upon a recommendation.
"I knew nothing about the sport, so I was a walk on, no experience," said Kohler. "Found success pretty quickly, mostly through the ergometer and that's really what gave me the opportunity to then step into the national team environment."
Kohler attended the University of California, where her rowing career took off, both collegiality and professionally. In 2011, she was a Division I first team All-American. This lead to her getting the opportunity to join the National Team following her sophomore year. Following gold medal wins at both the four at the 2011 World Rowing Championships and the eight at the 2011 Rowing World Cup, she was then selected to join Team USA at the London 2012 Olympic Games, where took home the bronze medal in the women's quad sculls.
Following the London Summer Olympics, Kohler began to struggle, so much so that she failed to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Determined to get back to the Olympics, she became the first U.S. rower to qualify for Tokyo 2020 following a big win at the Women's single sculls trial event over Gevvie Stone, silver medalist from Rio 2016.
"That really has been my primary driver the past couple of years, to make the Tokyo team," said Kohler. When asked about how emotional it was for her to get through such a difficult trial, Kohler said, "Emotional definitely is an understatement. That trial week was pretty brutal, especially after the postponement but yeah, I knew if I could race Chevy and keep my composure and deal with that pressure, I would be in a good place moving forward to Tokyo. (Chevy's) been pushing me to my limits these past three years since she came back to rowing in 2018, and she's been getting better and faster every year. So it will be fun to see which boat she ends up in because she has the potential to make a big impact on this team."
Colton Brown is a member of USA Judo expected to head to Tokyo
Colton Brown, olympian in men's judo, was born in New Brunswick, N.J., then grew up in Piscataway. He graduated from Piscataway High School in 2009, then went on to attend San Jose State University where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Marketing.
Brown first got into judo thanks to inspiration from his dad, Jeff Brown, who also did judo. During his time at San Jose State University, he trained on the San Jose State Judo Team. This lead to him competing in judo professionally starting in 2011. Throughout his judo career, Brown has won eight bronze medals, eight silver medals, and one gold medal. He also competed in the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics.
Since then, Brown continued to train and get himself ready for Tokyo 2020. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and the postponement of the 2020 Olympic Games affected him in more ways than one. Not only could he not do judo, but he also lost his grandma to COVID in late March. Through it all, however, Brown kept training and staying active until judo returned and he returned to competing. Brown credits his "Jersey Strong" mentality for helping him get through all of the adversity.
"It was rough for me," said Brown. "The pandemic was really bad in Jersey. So that was big for me. I couldn't get in. I was trying to do judo anywhere and it all happened very fast so it was rough in the beginning. But I believe in Jersey Strong. I have been born and raised in Jersey my whole life and I think people from Jersey are pretty strong people. We have been through a lot so I tried to keep that mentality."
The Opening Ceremony for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games will be held on July 23 and the Closing Ceremony will be held on Aug. 8. Throughout that timespan, we can expect both Kara Kohler and Colton Brown to represent both New Jersey and Team USA to the best of their ability in what could be the most emotional Olympic Games in years.
