On Oct. 7, eighteen-year-old Fort Worthian Jayda Fulp will step onto the tatami in Lima, Peru, to compete against the world’s top judo athletes. The Fort Worth judoka – a term for a judo fighter – has been named to USA Judo’s Junior World Championship roster, a squad of eighteen athletes under twenty-one that will face more than 385 competitors from sixty nations. Fulp will fight in the women’s 78-kilogram division, one of the sport’s most demanding weight classes, according to USA Judo.

For Fulp, this is new territory. A year ago, she was still competing at 63 kilograms, finishing seventh at the 2024 Cadet World Championships, her best showing yet at that level. That same year, she claimed gold at the Cadet Pan American Championships in Rio de Janeiro, toppling Brazil’s world No. 2 Sophia Camara in sudden-death overtime before submitting Costa Rica’s Noilyn Aguilar-Bravo in the final. It was her fifth straight gold medal of 2024, a run that also included wins at the Chandler Challenge, Lonestar Classic, and Youth Nationals.

Her judo success grew in tandem with a dominant high school wrestling career at Fort Worth Country Day. She became the first Falcon to reach the Prep Wrestling National finals and went undefeated, 26–0, through the 2023–24 season, picking up both state and Prep National titles.

Fulp also has a fruitful relationship with the Chandler Judo Academy, where she has worked extensively with coach Carrie Chandler, herself a Pan American champion nearly two decades ago. Together, they have built a foundation that carried Fulp from regional mats in Texas to the global stage.

Team USA’s Junior World squad is stacked, with seven of its athletes ranked among the top twenty juniors in the world. Fulp isn’t on that list yet, but her résumé, No. 1 in the U.S. as a Cadet and ranked as high as No. 7 internationally in her former division, marks her as a dangerous draw for anyone in Lima.

Fulp’s long-term focus is sharp: Los Angeles 2028. When the Olympics return to American soil, she plans to be there in red, white, and blue, carrying Fort Worth with her.

For now, Peru comes first. If her past is any guide, Fulp has a way of turning potential into something undeniable.

Complete USA Junior World Roster:

Women’s 48 kg

  • Malia Manibog (San Gabriel, Calif. / San Gabriel Judo)

  • Iya Sadanchikova (Santa Clara, Calif. / San Jose State University Judo)

Women’s 52 kg

  • Harlee Hiller (Evansville, Ill. / Cohen Brothers Judo)

  • Mackenzie McPherson (Miramar, Fla. / Budokan Judo Club in South Florida)

Women’s 57 kg

  • Elsa Clark (Potomac, Md. / Sport Judo)

Women’s 63 kg

  • Emily Jaspe (Hialeah, Fla. / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center)

Women’s 70 kg

  • Chloe Williams (Stafford, Va. / High Noon Judo)

Women’s 78 kg

  • Jayda Fulp (Fort Worth, Texas / Chandler Judo Academy)

Women’s +78 kg

  • Rhadi Ferguson, Jr. (Tampa, Fla. / High Noon Judo)

Men’s 60 kg

  • Christopher Velazco (Coral Springs, Fla. / NYAC / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center)

  • Jonathan Yang (Los Angeles, Calif. / USA Judo National Resident Team)

Men’s 66 kg

  • Lenny Sheynfeld (Staten Island, N.Y. / NYAC / Pedro’s Judo Center)

Men’s 73 kg

  • Kai Wallace (Murrietta, Calif. / Los Angeles Tenri Judo Dojo)

Men’s 81 kg

  • Daniel Shulgin (Philadelphia, Pa. / Yawara Force Judo/Sambo Club)

Men’s 90 kg

  • Oleksandr Nyzhnyk (Los Gatos, Calif. / Nakano Judo Academy / USA Judo National Resident Team)

Men’s 100 kg

  • Daniel Liubimovski (Staten Island, N.Y. / NYAC / Colton Brown Training Center)

Men’s +100 kg

  • Rufus Ferguson II (Tampa, Fla. / High Noon Judo)

  • Kanta Ueyama (Burbank, Calif. / Los Angeles Tenri Judo Dojo)