James says Belize can win medals in Judo

Renick James

James, an instructor with the Belize Judo and Jiujitsu Academy, is proud of completing the match and representing his country. He says that Belize can look forward to medals in this discipline as our practice and instruction improves:

Renick James, Olympian in Judo

“Definitely I am looking forward to the next event that is open; it all has to do with my federation and basically the Olympic committee to be able send me out there so that I can get more experience. As I tell anyone, at the Olympic level, we are not far from them; I mean, we have the capabilities of winning even at the Olympic level. It’s all about funding and it’s about good coaching. Once we get that definitely we can be at a level and we can be winning gold also.”

Meanwhile, athletes Jones and Sealy saw action today, but it was very brief. Twenty-nine-year-old Jones, who was the national flagbearer, finished last in his heat in the two hundred meter dash, with a time of twenty-one point four-nine seconds, enough for seventy-third place.  Meanwhile, Sealy, who is regularly a heptathlete, finished behind six other competitors in her heat in the one hundred-meter hurdles, clocking fifteen point seven-nine seconds.  This is Belize’s eleventh trip to the Olympics since 1968 in Mexico City, Mexico, but the country has never won an Olympic medal.