2. Rena Kanokogi
Rena Kanokogi was a renowned Jewish-American judo expert, but in 1959, she found that she could not compete because she was a woman. She disguised herself as a man so she could participate in a YMCA judo tournament, and she won, defeating all of her competitors.
After it was discovered that she was a woman, Rena was forced to return the medal she had won. Even with this setback, she did not give up. She was determined, so she traveled to Japan to continue her judo training.
Rena Kanokogi became the first woman to train with men at the Kodokan Institute in Tokyo. She became the founder of the first world female world championship when it was hosted in the Felt Forum at Madison Square Garden.
About 50 years, in 2009, after she was stripped of her first-place medal, Rena was awarded a gold medal by the New York State YMCA commending her for her contributions to the judo sport. “[The medal] should have never been taken from me,” Rena Kanokogi said at the time. “But we’re righting a wrong, that’s what counts.” She died three months later.
