American Kayla Harrison advanced to the gold medal match of women's 78kg judo and the Middletown native will look to be the first American to ever win gold in judo. Harrison upset the No. 1-ranked Mayra Aguiar of Brazil to advance to the finals at 11 a.m ET. Harrison has a singular focus on Thursday, looking to make Team USA history by bringing home the gold, via Rick Maese of The Washington Post:
"This is my day," Harrison had said earlier in the day. "This is my purpose."
[...]
Aguiar and Harrison had faced each other nine times before, with Harrison winning five times. "She's always a tough match," Harrison had said earlier in the day. "But no one's taking this away from me today."
Harrison will face the winner of the other semifinal between Audrey Techeumeo of France and Gemma Gibbons of Britain.
You can watch a livestream of the women's 78kg judo match here at 11 a.m. ET.
For more Olympic coverage of local athletes, stay right here with SB Nation Cleveland. For more news and analysis on the Summer Games from London, head over to SB Nation's Olympics hub.