About 50 family and friends gathered Thursday at Pendleton Art Center in downtown to watch her four matches, while her maternal grandparents, Gary and Barb Ogdin, watched from their Middletown home. The excitement hadn’t left her grandmother’s voice 24 hours later.
“We’re still on Cloud Nine,” said Barb Ogdin, 71. “That was the most amazing day ever. It was great to see that pure joy on her face.”
MORE: Middletown cheers Kayla Harrison to another Olympic gold
To honor Harrison, the Middletown City School District and the City of Middletown are holding a parade that will start at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 9 at the bus terminal downtown and end at Barnitz Stadium before the Middies host Trotwood-Madison.
Four years ago, the city honored Harrison with a parade and she toured about every school in the district and talked to the students about setting goals and overcoming obstacles. Another Middletown gold medalist, Jerry Lucas, who starred on the U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team at the 1960 Rome Olympics, attended the ceremony and presented Harrison with a bouquet of flowers.
The city later erected signs congratulating Harrison and Lucas for their gold medals.
Lucas said he was “thrilled” that Harrison won her second Olympic gold medal in judo.
“It’s nice to see a Middie do it,” said Lucas, a Middletown High School graduate, who later starred at Ohio State University and in the NBA. “We always stick together.”
Harrison grew up in Middletown, then moved to Boston when she was 16 years old to continue her training. Before that, she was sexually assaulted by her former coach. She has created Fearless Foundation, which helps young survivors of sexual abuse through education and athletics.
Or as her grandmother put it: “Turning scars into stars.”
In the press conference that followed her gold medal performance, Harrison was asked about her future, in particular the possibility of her entering the MMA, joining Ronda Rousey, who in 2008 became the first American woman to medal in judo when she took bronze.
“After a (judo) match, you shake the person’s hand and you give them a hug, and you bow to them to show respect,” Harrison said. “In MMA, it’s not like that … I don’t know if I’m cut out for a world where you get fights based on how pretty you are and how much you talk, and not necessarily what you’re worth in the ring.
“So for me, right now, it’s just going to be focus on being a two-time Olympic champion, enjoy the moment, live in the moment, and never say never — but right now, the answer is no to MMA.”
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