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Growing up, Rhadi Ferguson clearly knew that being average would never be good enough.
Not for him and not for a future Olympian, anyway.
He knows what it feels like to be close enough to the glory of the medal stand, only to watch from the side while already preparing for what would lie ahead in the next four years.
And while the American backdrop leading to Athens is clouded in scandals of athletes possibly breaking the rule to gain an advantage, Ferguson relies on his mental rigidity to guide his crafted physical condition.
His sport, judo, not only requires the combination in order to ensure success, it demands it.
"A judo player is likened to a chess player," Ferguson revealed. "You have to be able to be intelligent and think at least three or four moves ahead. I've never seen a dumb judo player in my life. It's just not possible because there's too much thinking required in the game."
However, it is Ferguson's mind that has held him in tact since he took up judo from ages 7 to 13, and guided him when he became serious about the sport as an adult. His ability to excel and adapt to a range of sports earned him a full athletic scholarship in football while at Howard University and he used the opportunity to also wrestle and run track.
"I wanted to get back into judo, but the closest thing was wrestling," Ferguson said. "I wrestled in Division I, but got crushed until I learned how to do it. But I did okay the next two following years."
But the story of the breed of judo player he is today is not without the bittersweet trends and victories that draw us all to sports. Ferguson has witnessed a great deal since he has competed professionally, including making the 2000 Olympics as an alternate and not participating, to career-threatening injuries, to making this year's team and standing at the forefront of America's quest to capture...