Jean Kanokogi: My mom was five foot nine, her legs were built like cinder blocks and her voice would wrap all around you. It was booming. And there were no excuses that she would accept. She said, ‘Unless you’re dead, do another push up.’
But she was constantly being told no.
Her first judo tournament was in 1959. It was the YMCA Judo Championships in Utica, New York. Women weren’t allowed to compete back then. So, she went with the men that she was training with just to warm up with them. But then she heard a snap and a loud yell across the mat. It was one of her teammates. Her coach said, ‘Rusty, I need you to take the place of this teammate. He can’t compete. But don’t let anybody see that you’re a woman. Just make it a tie.’
She was big and strong, she was very androgynous looking, so nobody really knew the difference. She bows in with her opponent. She throws this big guy and wins her judo match.
As she’s walking out of the judo venue with her gold medal, the tournament director comes up to her and says, ‘Are you a girl? I need that medal back.’ Otherwise, your team will forfeit their first place win.’
[beat] So she decided to take that medal from around her neck. [beat] And she told me that she felt that she did everything wrong just for being a woman. [beat] But then she also described that she felt this anger that she never felt before. She didn’t believe that any woman deserved to have that feeling because they wanted to compete.
Eve Aronoff Trivella: The first time I saw your mom, I was at a judo training camp and I saw this redheaded woman who reeked power. I said, ‘who is that woman?’ And my friend said, ‘That’s Rusty Kanokogi, and she’s probably the strongest woman you’ll ever meet. And she was right.
Jean Kanokogi: You fueled her, because she wanted you to have that chance. She wanted her student, you to walk in next to her at the ‘88 Games, into that Olympic Stadium.
Eve Aronoff Trivella: I remember that moment. You wait a while before you walk into the Olympic Stadium. The tunnel is dark and you go to the end… and you see the light, so to speak [chuckles].
You just hear all the screaming, and yelling, and they have the American flag up, and she stood there, chest out, head up, beaming with glory. She did it… She did it.
Jean Kanokogi: I remember I asked her, ‘Did you ever feel cheated for not having your shot at the Olympics? And of course she said… ‘I would’ve won.’
[Both laugh]
