Neil Adams: Judo, Olympics, Winning, Losing, and the Champion Mindset | Lex Fridman Podcast #427

When we go to the dojos there, we all get thrown by people that never come out to-

Yeah.

... be world champions. You know, they're, they're just in the mix or they're going through three years of university and then they go. We, we had a guy-

(laughs) Yeah.

(laughs) Y- y- you did-

Yeah.

We had a guy that came in. He was a business guy. He came in-

Yeah.

... with his suitcase and his tie up like that. And he's, he's in his lunch hour. He's in his lunch hour, right?

Yeah.

So he's gotta be quick.

Yeah. (laughs)

(laughs) So he comes in and he goes through ... He's working his way through the whole of the British team.

(laughs)

And we're all lined up, right? 10 minutes later, he's just, just-

Yeah.

... tying his tie up like that, you know?

Yeah.

And off b- back to work like that, you know? Imagine him sitting behind his desk in his computer.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, I'm glad he didn't get out. (laughs)

(laughs) Who do you think wins, Yamashita versus-

I think Yamashita but, but I, you know, I-

Y- w- w- w- w- w- w-

Yeah.

You think Yamashita beats Teddy Riner?

I think so.

Strong words. The following is a conversation with Neil Adams, a legend in the sport of judo. He is a world champion, two-time Olympic silver medalist, five-time European champion, and often referred to as the voice of judo. Commentating all the major events, world championships and Olympic Games, highlighting the drama, the triumph, the artistry of the sport of judo. Making fans like me feel the biggest wins, the biggest losses, the surprise turns of fortune, the dominance of champions coming to an end, and new champions made. Always speaking from the heart. This is the Lex Fridman Podcast. To support it, please check out our sponsors in the description and now, dear friends, here's Neil Adams. You are a five-time European champion, world champion, two-time Olympic silver medalist. Let's first go to the 1980 Olympics. Where was your mind? What was your preparation like? What was your strategy leading into that Olympics?

That was my first Olympic Games, so my preparation was a little bit different to how it was the, uh, '84 and the '88 Olympic Games. And, um, I'd kind of done part of the preparation as well for '76 Olympic Games. I wasn't quite old enough for those, but I was first reserve. So in 1980, I'd had four years build up and I was hungry and I was one of these young athletes, and I see them so often now, that was developing and, you know, full of ... I wouldn't say I was full of myself, but I was, I was certainly confident of my ability and, uh, I wanted to conquer the world. And I'd had a couple of really, uh, tight matches with the current Olympic world champions, so I knew that, uh, there was a possibility that I could get there for the '80 Olympics. So, uh, building up to the '80 Olympics was, um, was quite interesting because I was kind of coming through the weights and I was halfway in between the 71 kilos weight category and the, um, the higher weight category of 78 kilograms. And, um, I'd got third place at the '79 World Championships, the weight below, fought the whole year at the higher weight category. Didn't win a- lose a contest, so I'd beaten everybody in the world and, uh, and then I had to make the decision as to whether to drop to the weight below because I was seeded in the weight below. It was a different seeding then, see, a- and, um ... So I decided to drop into the weight below because I was seeded in the top four and, um, a- a- as it happens, I think it was probably the worst decision I made.