Kayla Harrison: The Most Inspirational Athlete of the 2012 Summer Olympics

Kayla Harrison won the first judo gold medal in the history of the United States at the Summer Olympics.

Still, she's so much more of an inspiration to the world than just being an Olympian. In an article by Ian Chadband of The Telegraph, Harrison looked back as a victim of sexual abuse:

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I feel incredibly sad for that little girl. I can still see her, I can still see her crying her eyes out and not knowing how to escape. But I’m happy for her because I know she had the courage to say, "I won’t be that victim of sexual abuse."

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Chadband went on to mention:

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Harrison suffered in silence for three painful years because she abandoned her thoughts of suicide and summoned the bravery to first expose him and then confront him in court.

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The most impressive part of Harrison is her courage to speak out after the fact. Everything thereafter can be looked at as a bonus.

Because she then broke the barrier and faced him in court and still continued to train in the sport. Winning a gold medal is tough enough as it is, but overcoming a past like that and taking first in the Olympics cannot justifiably be described in words.

Even better, Harrison received well-deserved support through Twitter. Here, let's take a look at some of those congratulating her:

"

Huge congrats to @judo_kayla winning gold in women's judo today!!!!

— Ronda Rousey (@RondaRousey) August 2, 2012"

Ronda Rousey, who became the first woman to win an Olympic medal for the U.S. (bronze), would be a formidable opponent, right?

"

YOUR DAY KAYLA!!! #Olympics #Judohistory @teamusa

— USA Judo (@USAJudo) August 2, 2012"

USA Judo needs more recognition, because the sport itself is so much better than given credit for.

"

swoll wpride after watchin @judo_kayla raise da USA flag 4 da GOLD in judo @olympics 1st time (cont) tl.gd/il4nrf

— Marti Malloy (@Martidamus) August 2, 2012"

Fellow U.S. teammate Marti Malloy also placed with bronze in the 57 kilogram weight class.

As for her run through the tournament, Harrison didn't just win gold, she completely dominated. Her first two matches were won by an ippon (the highest possible score awarded in judo) as was the third.

More impressively, the third ippon came against Brazil's Mayra Aguiar, who ended up taking bronze. That's simply just how much better Harrison is compared to the rest of the world.

In the gold-medal match, she scored two yukos (a partially awarded point) over Gemma Gibbons of Great Britain.

Her story is an inspiration and possessing the mental toughness to become an Olympian afterword, then win the gold goes beyond fathomable thought.

Follow John Rozum on Twitter.