Rousey qualified for the 2004 Olympics but unfortunately lost her first fight. She didn’t let that loss bring her down, though.
She fought at the World Championships in Hungary that year and snatched the gold medal for her country. It was her first win of many.
Then Came the Accident
When Rousey was eight years old, she suffered a terrible loss. That winter, Ronda and her family went sledding and their lives changed forever. Her father had a sledding accident and broke his back.
A previously unknown blood condition was preventing Ron from healing properly and left him paralyzed from the waist down. The doctors only gave him a few more years to live, which sent him spiraling and led him into taking his own life.
Learning from Mom
At 11 years old, Ronda started training with her mother. She learned everything she could about judo, worked hard, and a couple of years later became strong enough to accidentally break her mother's wrist.
Ronda turned out to be a natural fighter and joined the Olympic team when she was 15. The year after that, she was ranked number one in her weight category, making history as the youngest American to achieve that title.
Another Olympic Round
The 2008 Olympic games found Ronda ready to take on whatever opponent she faces. She put up great fights but ended up losing the quarterfinals by a near-tie. The results were actually so close she got a second chance to qualify for the medal rounds.
She took the opportunity with both hands, fought hard, and won the bronze medal. She became the first American woman to win an Olympic medal in judo!
A Post-Olympic Life
At 21 years old, after winning almost every possible judo medal a young American woman can, Rousey retired. She gave a non-Olympic life a shot and moved in with a roommate in California.
This turned out to be harder than winning medals. She supported herself and her dog by working three jobs and then realized it was all becoming too much.