For the 1st time, US has defending Olympic judo champion

(Photo: The Associated Press)RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — For the first time, the U.S. will have a defending Olympic judo champion when the Rio games begin — and she will be backed up by arguably the strongest team ever produced by the U.S. to compete in the Japanese martial art, with a serious chance of taking three medals.

Kayla Harrison made history when she became the first American to win a judo gold at the London Games in 2012 and even though she had intended to quit — and become a firefighter instead — the lure of defending her title was too great. She will be joined in Rio by two other leading medal contenders: Marti Malloy, who won a bronze in London and Travis Taylor, who finished fifth.

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