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Jack Hatton’s death leaves search for answers

By Beau DureJan 8, 2020, 1:23 PM EST

Jack Hatton brightened every gym he attended and had a bright future in judo.

But Hatton also had his down days.

“When Jack was up, he was way up,” Canadian judoka Zach Burt told reporter Tim Layden for an NBC Sports story. “When he was down, he was way down, almost drastically so.”

On Sept. 24, Hatton was found dead in the house he shared with other athletes in Wakefield, Mass. He left no note, but he had taken his own life. He was 24 years old.

The judo community responded with shock and support, quickly raising nearly $10,000 for his family through a GoFundMe campaign that went on to draw nearly $37,000.

Hatton was a strong contender for a place in the 2020 Olympics. If Olympic qualification ended today, Colton Brown would qualify as one of the top 18 athletes in his weight class who aren’t already qualified. The other qualification path is to give one spot per country to the highest-ranked judoka in any class. At the moment, that’s Adonis Diaz, who is 33rd in his class. At the time of his death, Hatton was ranked 30th in his class, and he had been ranked higher in the past.

The Hatton family’s search for answers started with the possibility of brain injuries, but they were unable to get a study for possible chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

In retrospect, a few incidents from Hatton’s last few months have troubled his family and friends. In August, at the world championships, he expressed concern about life after judo, an issue that arose in part because he had not been able to stick with college studies. In early September, he went for a hike with inadequate clothing and was found the next day suffering from hypothermia.

Hatton’s father, Mark, spoke with Jack the morning Sept. 23 and found him agitated, saying he needed to get out of the house where he was living. Mark suggested therapy, which they had discussed before.

“I know, Dad, I know,” Jack said.

But Jack bristled at the idea of contacting Kayla Harrison, a two-time Olympic champion who trained with him and has been open about struggling with depression and considering suicide. Sometime during the day, though, Jack did think of Harrison — one of the last two searches on his phone was “Kayla Harrison mental health.”

READ: Harrison on MMA and judo careers

Harrison is one of many people who remember Hatton as a friendly teammate with a great sense of humor.

“Jack made me laugh every day,” Harrison said.

Layden’s story on Hatton, his family and friends is posted at NBCSports.com.

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No words could describe the amount of pride that the New York Athletic Club Judo Program had in knowing that Jack Hatton wore The Winged Foot. He embodied everything that athletes who represent the Club stands for: he was an ideal ambassador of the Club’s credo, both as an athlete and a person. No words will ever describe the amount of sorrow that we all share from Jack’s passing. Jack once described how much of an honor it was for him to compete for the New York Athletic Club, but the greater honor was having our program, and lives, elevated by such a talented, genuine, and wonderful young man. He gave everyone affiliated with the NYAC reason to hope, reason to be proud, and reason to smile. We extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to the Hatton family, and we also extend our deepest appreciation for bringing Jack into our lives.

A post shared by New York Open Judo (@nyopenjudo) on Oct 3, 2019 at 10:08am PDT

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Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps lead dominant Summer Olympians of 2010s

By Nick ZaccardiDec 16, 2019, 11:59 AM EST

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NBCSports.com looks back at the 2010s decade this week. Here are 10 of the Summer Olympic athletes (five American, five international) who dominated the last 10 years …

Simone Biles, United States
Gymnastics
Four Olympic gold medals in 2016
Record 25 World Championships medals

Biles is the only athlete on this list who competed at just one Olympics in this decade. That’s a testament to just how dominant she has been. Undefeated for six years in all-around competition. History-making winning margins. Four unprecedented skills among three apparatuses that are now named after her. Before Rio, teammate Aly Raisman was the first to say that Simone was competing in her own division. That was true four years ago, and it remains true going into the 2020s.

Usain Bolt, Jamaica
Track and Field
Six Olympic gold medals in the 2010s
First sprinter to sweep the 100m and 200m at multiple Olympics

Bolt followed his breakout and world records in 2008 and 2009 with impressive longevity through the end of his career in 2017. Bolt’s competition got faster in this decade — and he slowed slightly — but he was always the man to beat. Training partner Yohan Blake defeated him at the 2012 Jamaican Olympic Trials, only for Bolt to return the favor at the London Games. Justin Gatlin re-emerged in the next Olympic cycle, also handing Bolt a loss in 2013, but the Jamaican still swept the 100m and 200m at the 2013 and 2015 Worlds and to complete his Olympic career in Rio.

Lisa Carrington, New Zealand
Flatwater Canoe
2012 and 2016 Olympic K-1 200m champion
At least one gold medal at seven different world championships in the 2010s

The queen of her sport’s splash-and-dash. Carrington won all nine Olympic or world titles in the individual 200m from 2011-19. She’s also added golds in the K-1 500m and K-2 500m at the world championships. In 2014, Carrington recorded the fastest 200m time in history, 37.898 seconds, which took more than a second off the 20-year-old mark held by German Birgit Fischer, considered by many the greatest female Olympian in history.

Ashton Eaton, United States
Track and Field
Two Olympic decathlon titles
Twice broke the decathlon world record

If the Olympic decathlon champion is still the world’s greatest athlete, then Eaton is going into the eighth year of his reign. The Oregon native opened the 2010s with a world championships silver medal at age 22 in 2011. Then he won every single global title, including indoor heptathlons, from 2012 through his retirement in 2016. Eaton’s personal bests in the 400m and the 400m hurldes (the latter not a decathlon event) would have made the Rio Olympic team.

Katie Ledecky, United States
Swimming
Five Olympic gold medals in the 2010s
World records in the 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyles

A 12-year-old at the start of the decade, Ledecky became arguably the world’s most dominant athlete for the 2010s. She was the youngest U.S. Olympian across all sports at London 2012 and brought back gold in the 800m free, upsetting British favorite Rebecca Adlington. Then Ledecky really turned it on, breaking 14 world records from 2013-18 and coining the Ledecky Slam — sweeping the 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m free titles at one world championships in 2015.

Michael Phelps, United States
Swimming
Nine Olympic gold medals in the 2010s; 12 overall medals
Broke the record for career Olympic medals

Phelps’ prime came just before the start of the decade, with his eight Olympic gold medals in 2008 and last three individual world records in 2009. The 2010s were defined by comebacks — from ceding the title of world’s greatest swimmer to Ryan Lochte in 2010 and 2011 to outperforming his countryman at the 2012 London Games. From gaining 30 pounds in a 2012-13 retirement to becoming the world’s fastest butterflier again in 2014. From a DUI arrest, suspension, rehab stint and suicidal thoughts to become Team USA’s flag bearer in Rio, an Olympic team captain for the first time and end his Olympic career with five more gold medals.

Teddy Riner, France
Judo
Olympic heavyweight titles in 2012, 2016
Every world title from 2010 through 2017

Riner, a native of Guadeloupe, is a giant in his sport. Not just because he is 6 feet, 8 inches, and 290 pounds. But because he hasn’t lost a competitive match since September 2010. He is riding a win streak of around 150 matches, which includes skipping the 2018 and 2019 World Championships as he lightened his tournament schedule going into his fourth Olympics in 2020.

Svetlana Romashina, Russia
Synchronized Swimming
Olympic gold medals in all four synchro events in the 2010s
13 World titles across 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2019

Romashina gets the nod over longtime duet partner Natalya Ishchenko, who retired after the Rio Olympics. Romashina also left the sport after those Games, but she came back to win three more world titles this past summer at age 29 (her first golds came in 2005, when she was 14).

Claressa Shields, United States
Boxing
Won four of the five Olympic and world titles this decade before turning pro
Lost one bout in the entire decade, while winning more than 80

Shields has been the face of Olympic women’s boxing since taking gold at age 17 in the sport’s debut at the 2012 London Games. The Flint, Mich., product followed up by sweeping the world titles in the next Olympic cycle and capping her amateur career with repeat Olympic gold.

Anita Wlodarczyk, Poland
Track and Field
Won five of the seven Olympic or world hammer titles in the 2010s
Recorded the 15 farthest throws in history

Wlodarczyk won a reported 42 straight finals between 2014 and 2017 before defeats the last two seasons and arthroscopic left knee surgery that kept her out of worlds in September. Her world record of 82.98 meters (scribbled on her leg pre-op) is 11 and a half feet farther the second-best woman in history.

Honorable Mention: Mo Farah (Track and Field, Great Britain), Jin Jong-Oh (Shooting, South Korea), Laura Kenny (Cycling, Great Britain), Mariana Pajon (Cycling, Colombia), Maggie Steffens (Water Polo, United States), Christian Taylor (Track and Field, United States) and Kohei Uchimura (Gymnastics, Japan).

Correction: A previous version of this post incorrectly reported that Bolt won five Olympic gold medals in the 2010s. He won six, sweeping the 100m, 200m and 4x100m in 2012 and in 2016.

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Judo world champion granted Mongolian citizenship after fleeing Iran

By OlympicTalkDec 2, 2019, 12:52 PM EST

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A judo world champion from Iran who went into hiding after disobeying orders to withdraw from August’s world championships to avoid a potential Israeli opponent has been granted Mongolian citizenship, according to the International Judo Federation.

Saeid Mollaei, a 2018 World champion, can compete in Olympic qualifying events under his new flag.

Mollaei walked off the Iranian team in August, saying he had been ordered by the government to lose matches and withdraw from competitions so as not to face Israelis. He competed anyway but lost one round before a potential final with an Israeli, then fled to Germany.

“I want to compete wherever I can,” Mollaei said in a statement from the IJF in September. “I live in a country whose law does not permit me to. We have no choice, all athletes must comply with it. All I did today was for my life, for a new life.

“I need help. Even if the authorities of my country told me that I can go back without any problems, I am afraid.”

In October, Iran was banned indefinitely from international judo competitions for refusing to let its athletes fight Israeli opponents.

Mollaei remained eligible to compete as part of a refugee team before the switch to Mongolia.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Watch Saeid Mollaei in action for Mongolia 🇲🇳 NEXT WEEK at #JudoMasters in Qingdao, China. pic.twitter.com/BmKXwoPHSl

— Int. Judo Federation (@Judo) December 2, 2019

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