Pain of Olympic Bronze is Rousey motivation
“And I’ve always really been heartbroken by that. Every time I defend my title it’s another chance to redeem myself. But it’s never quite an Olympic gold medal.”
When people write of Ronda Rousey, a string of accolades is typically trotted out. Olympic medalist in Judo, UFC champion, and New York Times best selling author, with appearances in “The Expendables 3,” “Furious 7,” and “Gone With the Wind.”
However, one of those is not a source of pride for Rousey, but a continuing, driving, defining source of pain. At the 2008 Beijing Games, Rousey failed to win gold, and it has motivated her since. In her mind, she is not an Olympic medalist, she was the second loser.
“I still get (motivation) from never winning the Olympics,” said Rousey at a recent media scrum, as transcribed buy Agence France-Presse.
“That was my childhood dream and I spent my whole life in pursuit of that. And I had to give that up. I had to really come to terms that it wasn’t going to happen. And I’ve always really been heartbroken by that.
“But in a way I’m grateful because I feel that if I did win the Olympics then I wouldn’t have the never-ending source of motivation that I have today.
“Every time I defend my title it’s another chance to redeem myself. But it’s never quite an Olympic gold medal. And that’s how I stay I motivated.”
Next up is Holly Holm in a ready or not, here it comes fight at UFC 193 on November 15, 2015 at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia. In a sport driven right now by pre-fight trash talk, Rousey was sweetness and light.
“She seems like a very, very nice person,” said Rousey. “She seems like a sweet girl. She’s the kind of person, that after I’ve beaten her and she’s made a lot of money, I’ll be like ‘Good for you! Buy yourself a house with that!’.
“I’ll genuinely be happy for her. I hope that she takes all the money that she gets from losing and has a great life.”
