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Editor's note: Sports psychologist John Murray has been blogging from the Olympics about his work with judo athlete Adler Volmar, as well as other observations. Prior to flying home, he offered his final thoughts.

Final blog -- Tokyo airport

This is the final blog in this six part series from Beijing, China. A huge thanks Bill Liesse and the Peoria Journal Star for carrying this blog all week, especially after my original blog site was blocked by authorities in China.

Of course the biggest thanks for all goes to Adler Volmar, a man on a mission after overcoming the odds following a severe injury in just February when the Miami Dolphins team physician
gave him less than a 1% chance of even competing at the trials. He did compete, he did win, and he made Team USA. He tried with all his heart and soul to win the gold in Beijing.

Despite being stopped on the mat, he won even more people over with the absolutely dignified way he lost. I have been receiving tons of nice emails about him. It shows that if you lose smart you can still win! He is a client, but much more now, he is a true friend.

I was thrilled to meet many more Olympians, too numerous to mention, and enjoyed our home away from home in the USA House Thursday night. But let's move away from Team USA for just a moment as I get ready to leave, and talk about the people of China.

Whatever you say about China, never say they do not try. This week has revealed a sincere spirit of person who is willing to go 150% to please the guest.
When I asked for a fork, the waiter at my hotel literally sprinted to the kitchen and back in 14 seconds. When have you seen that in America? When I casually mentioned that the sausage for breakfast had been named "snake sausage" the front desk staff deeply apologized and sent a huge basket of fresh fruit to my room. On and on it goes. The smiles at the Olympic games were sincere. They were not contrived. These did not appear to be oppressed people at all.

Maybe I am just seeing the cream
of the crop in Beijing, but one thing we can all agree on this 2008 Olympics is that China gave it their all. So my next congrats goes to the Chinese authorities and people for showing us a side that we might not have even been aware of.

Now, since I am typing from the airport in Tokyo where I will not be censored, I will say that I hope democracy takes hold in this land and I hope these great people are eventually given the freedoms politically that the West has enjoyed. Despite
the utopian appearances that are probably in part very real, we also know that 1.3 billion people do not have a free press, cannot freely elect their officials, and will be severely reprimanded if they say the wrong thing.

Maybe it is just the American spirit or writer in me, but freedom of speech and press and not blocking websites are extremely important basic needs. It is my hope that the success of these Olympics
will inspire this 20% sector of the world's population to move more and more in the same direction that East Germany ultimately did when the wall came tumbling down. Now do you see why I did not type this from Beijing :-)?

This brings me to one final thought, and these are admittedly American thoughts with no intention to insult anyone abroad. Everyone is shouting doomsday in America. Our financial system is a mess and we are in debt all over the world. We desperately need new and bright leaders who will bring us back to respect worldwide and who will help strengthen the dollar. We need to help both big business and the individual and we need to get off our petroleum addiction.

How sad is it when we can send a man to the moon but still cannot figure out how to be energy independent? I believe most of our problems today stem from that darn oil addiction. So I cry out to our people and leaders to think long term about a new way and a new optimism. And I give you some hope here.

The China that I saw in Beijing may have us in deep debt
and they may be prospering in their massive new construction projects and their infrastructure of cheap labor and industrial expansion, but hear me now ... they are nowhere near where America is yet. I cannot give you the data to prove this, and I cannot pull out five studies to reinforce my point.

Rather, I saw it everywhere in Beijing in many small and large ways. Whether it was the standards of construction
that are often analogous to pre-1900 America, the lack of creativity that thrives in the American soul, or the mere obedience to autoracy that is obvious ... the point is that no matter how great and how amazing China is today and they are indeed rising, America is still 50-75 years ahead of them.

Having said all that, I mean no hard feelings toward China or their people. I only say that if we can get our own house in order, think long-term, get off oil, and get some great leaders, America can once again prosper like the 80s and 90s and even better. Our peak has not even come yet. That is my wish and my belief. All praise to the great country of China and the wonderful and friendly people, but to make a variation from a political line in U.S. history: "I have seen China ... and China, you are no America!"

Amazing awaited ... and amazing came. The 2008 Beijing Olympics are incredible. The opening ceremonies were the best in history. The people were the friendliest in history. The service was extraordinary. What does that tell you? It means that China got its act together and it impressed the entire world.

Now as Americans or Westerners, let's wake up, get our act together and move to a new era of hard work, smart leadership, and prosperity. We may be losing recently ... so let's
learn from Adler Volmar and act with grace and style, and let's realize that it is the process and performance that matters in the long-term, not the outcome at the current moment.

Let's use the best principles of sport psychology to help us all gain long-term vision, confidence, focus, goals, better quality, and passion for a brighter future! Thank you China AND Adler Volmar for inspiring us all!

John F Murray, PhD

Thanks to all of you who tuned in last night and thanks even more for the many supportive emails.

Adler lost his match. But he won even more fans and supporters with the absolutely first-class way he handled himself. I am blogging tonight from the USA House of the USOC and I must say that all the judo experts I spoke with about the match today indicate that technically it was an extremely close match that could have gone either way and that Adler did about all he could do.

There were moves and countermoves, and Adler was almost awarded points for a controversial throw of the Bosnian but it was ruled out of bounds. He battled well for hand position and then fell victim to the explosive/immediate nature of this sport -- unfortunately finding himself pinned on his back with his opponent grip of his belt creating an impossible escape.

It could have gone the other way if the fall had been different, or the knee lock, or the balance ... in other words it was one of those things that just happen in this sport. His opponent was awarded ippon which means the match is over.

In watching two days of judo, I saw this happen several times in the first few seconds of the match. What a tenuous and difficult sport when one wrong move, or one great move by your adversary, ends a match immediately! In tennis you get to play best of three sets. Baseball goes 9 innings. Boxing might go 12 rounds unless there is a knock-out. But this sport only requires a nice throw, hold or pin and it's over before it even started.

He had a chance to fight for the bronze medal only if his opponent won the second round, which he did not, but he won more rounds and proved to be a strong competitor. The Bosnian deserved total credit for his win and Adler made absolutely no excuses, did not hang his head, kept his sense of humor and even expressed regret to the media in a tearful interview that he had let others down.

Wow! This guy did not let anyone down at all. He gave it his all and the time was not meant to be his. There is nothing wrong with this because he did everything in his power to prepare for this match and he fought with courage. That is all a sport psychologist can ask of his player.

Lesley Visser, the Hall of Fame broadcaster whom Adler and I met before our trip to Beijing, and who so generously donated to Adler's fund-raising cause, just emailed to say that Adler is still golden to all of us. Lesley knows a great athlete and a great person when she sees one.

Sure, we were all disappointed that he did not capture the first gold in the history in judo for the USA. Still, he is the U.S. champion if not a world champion in the sport, and whatever he does after judo he will continue to be a world champion as a person. His story of perseverance needs to be heard by so many more and this loss today for a two-time Olympian will only help him better understand and relate to others who have dealt with adversity themselves!

If you saw him tonight at the USA House here in Beijing, you would see no sign of loss, despair or sadness. Instead you see a smiling, sociable, reflective and humorous individual who knows how to lose with grace and style better than 99% of athletes out there.

Only one 1 of 32 players could have won the gold on this day and this is just the beginning for this champion of "never say never!" I truly believe that there is a silver lining in every cloud and we always learn more and grow more in adversity. Success is a long life journey of striving -- not a destination -- and if you think you are immediately the toast of the town when you bring home the gold you will be toast yourself before too long.

Success is also striving to be better than your previous self, and Adler pushed himself to the limit today and found there was still life after not winning a gold. I know you are all proud of Adler and the way he has carried himself throughout his career and especially in this year of difficulties, so keep sending those emails and I will forward them to him. In the next blog I will talk some more about the culture and people of China now that the judo is over for the time being.

-- Dr. John Murray

for the Journal Star

 Editor's note: Sports psychologist Dr. John Murray is providing Journal Star readers daily updates from the Olympics. The former tennis pro and Florida resident is working with judo competitor Adler Volmar. The goal is to offer insight into the mental and psychological aspect of sports, right up to Volmar's matches and immediately following them. The doctor will add some Beijing observations both inside and outside the sports venues. Murray's full work and profile can be found on his own Web site:

http://www.johnfmurray.com/

 Thursday Early Morning

The day began with the most delicious won ton soup on this side of the Great Wall!

I went back twice to the special hotel soup bar, quite analogous to a nice omelet station in an American hotel. This morning's "snake sausage" was replaced with "link sausage" so I curiously asked the hotel staff if it was snake meat and they bent over backwards in apologies - explaining that it was just a typographical error on the sign above the food, and then sent me a huge beautiful basket of fruit to my room as a gesture of apologies.

My goodness, I did not expect this and was somewhat embarrassed! But thank you China Resources Hotel, a superb 4-star accommodation about 20 minutes taxi ride from Olympic Village.

Crystal, Earl and I engaged the same routine of walk, subway, and walk and made it to the gorgeous gymnasium before noon to watch a full day of judo. By the way, the subways are ultra modern and I have been in the best and consider Beijing's subways cleaner and faster than others, with nice digital tvs to watch the Olympics while you wait.

The people seem overall happy, like people in any large city, but there is a strange fascination with cats and dogs which we have seen few of. One cat yesterday came up to Adler in between our watching judo and sprawled on his back right in front of him for a 20 minute nap. Countless locals approached with smiles to take pictures.

I'm not sure what the fascination with a simple cat was, but it aroused more attention than an appearance by the greatest judo master ever -- who never lost a match in his entire career -- Yasuhiro Yamashita.

I was excited to meet Yamashita and get his autograph on my Olympic flag with a photo and I left the cat where he was.

Adler today was very reflective about his overall mission and how this all fell into place, winning at the trials and now having a chance to represent Team USA. The one thing that is absolutely clear is that he believes totally in his chances and works as hard as anyone in training, but at some point lets go and realizes that it is out of his control, and that competitive outcomes are influenced from an above higher source.

He is indeed very Christian in his beliefs and wants his success to give him the platform to show others what faith does. If it moves mountains tomorrow and he wins gold, he wants the world to know that it was much more than Adler.

As he stated again, this is way beyond me. While he appeared ready to rumble the next day, my only concern was that he not overextend himself in being the perfect tour guide and judo commentator, and get back to his village and get ready for war tomorrow.

He assured me repeatedly that his being with what he calls "his family" here (Earl, Crystal and I) was far more helpful than going back to his dorm room in Olympic Village. So he stayed with us all day until he finally slipped off around 7 p.m. to head back while Crystal, Earl and I watched the semifinals, bronze matches, and gold medal bouts of the day.

Perhaps the most interesting storyline was the performance by a Georgian Judoka, who beat a Russian with sheer passion and then went on to win the gold medal. Seeing the emotion and hugs you just knew there were the politics of Russia and Georgia as much as you want to keep that element out of the games.

Today is the day now that we have all been waiting for. The table is set, the cards are shuffled, and we will soon witness Adler Volmar in all his raw form as he goes up against the absolute best 31 other judoka in the world in the 100 kg class today.

The 32-man draw is set up that you have to win 5 matches in a row to win the gold. If you lose, you can still fight an extremely hard uphill battle for the bronze medal but you need some help in that the person who beat you needs to win the next round. It is sort of like a single elimination tennis tournament with a small chance for third place.

Whether Adler wins or loses, I will be extremely proud of him and eternally grateful for his bringing me to Beijing to experience all of this. While the matches are televised in some parts of the world, they are not being televised in the USA, so your best bet by far -- where all matches can be seen live -- is to log in to www.nbcolympics.com and you can see it as if you are in the stands!

Beijing is 13 hours ahead of Peoria time, so you would want to get your computer ready no later than 10:45 p.m. and be ready to start watching matches at 11. Be attentive because these matches can last over 15 minutes with the timeouts, or be over in a flash before they start.

Adler appreciates all your support, prayers, and love. He sincerely realizes that social support from the so many good people he has met over the years will be a major force. Now he needs to just compete and I am sure he will be brutal today. If someone beats Adler today, I will credit them endlessly.

I can tell you that I would not have to face this determined warrior today. This is the day he has been waiting for his entire life … so tune in and watch him win the gold! None of the traditional press has given him a chance. I know he can do it. Go Adler!

for the Journal Star

Editor's note: Sports psychologist Dr. John Murray is providing Journal Star readers daily updates from the Olympics. The former tennis pro and Florida resident is working with judo competitor Adler Volmar. The goal is to offer insight into the mental and psychological aspect of sports, right up to Volmar's matches and immediately following them. The doctor will add some Beijing observations both inside and outside the sports venues. Murray's full work and profile can be found on his own Web site:

http://www.johnfmurray.com/

Wednesday early Morning

Adler is nothing but energy! Yesterday was a big day as we finally met up with the man with a heart of gold who is going for the less significant piece of gold. He showed us all around the Olympic complex, the Team USA headquarters and
living accommodations, and just about everything there was possibly to see in the Olympic Village.

The security, as
you might imagine, is matchless. Once you finally do get in there are countless additional restrictions unless you have
this number, decal or color on your badge.

What a great feeling as the weather cooperated following a rainstorm and
the air looked actually clear and clean! Athletes were trading badges, walking from training session to another, playing
silly video games, lounging, or meeting with media. If you can imagine a major university campus in the USA, with only
all the athletes out and about, and then multiply this by 150 -- you get a glimpse of the awe.

I mean these are the
best of the best, and the dreams of every country all in one spot.

Let's talk a little more about Adler. He was
born in Miami when his mother visited his sister, but he grew up in Haiti. When he was a teenager he was picked on
by bullies and given a good beating. His mother insisted that he learn to defend himself, so at age 13 he started
training for judo. By 15 he was a black belt and three years later, he was going to his first Olympics in Atlanta, where
he carried the national flag.

After Atlanta, with very poor English, he was tricked into thinking that he had to
join the US military and served in the Navy as a combat medic. He missed the 2000 Olympics largely due to his
military service but tried again for the judo team in 2004 and missed, coming in third. Many would have given up
but Adler persisted with the dream for the gold and he rose in the ranks and won several major international events
leading up to the Beijing Olympic trials.

That is when he tore both his anterior cruciate ligament and lateral cruciate, and the Miami Dolphins team physician, Dr. Caldwell, surgicially repaired his knee in February and told him he had between a 0 and 1 percent chance of even competing at the June Olympic trials. Adler heard "one percent" and he said "that was plenty enough
for me!"

At the trials, he had to win in a sudden-death overtime and it was a highly controversial ending ... but the fact is he won and he now represents the USA Team Judo in the 100kg class.

I've given you just a sketch of the facts.
What you might not realize is that he is one of the most humble and caring persons I have ever met! Can you believe
this ... for a world class athlete. His mother died last year and she has been an inspiration. His wife has been
tirelessly patient and supportive as he reaches for his goals. He had a great training staff in his recovery and then
I had the honor of him calling for an appointment only a little over a month ago. We hit it off immediately and he
kept telling me that he was taking me with him to Beijing. I kept denying it sarcastically. Well ... he felt
strongly enough about the mental game and our rapport that he inisted I go and got the plane ticket and hotel reservation.

Very few in the world media or judo land really believe in Adler.
He is a definite sleeper from those in the supposed know. But when you meet him, you realize it is never about Adler; rather, he is on a mission to change lives. He has a great family with three kids and he wants to make their lives better.
He wants to get the first gold for judo in U.S. history. He even told me that he wants to help me with the sport
psychology. The man is sincere and he is funny, too.

During our long walks around the village he often teased and joked,
but the serious side came out too and there is no doubt in his mind that he will walk away with gold, but even that
he ultimately gives up to a higher source -- his belief and his faith.He never should have been here after that
injury, but he is, and the world will have to deal with it.

There are 32 fighters in the draw at the 100kg class and his first opponent Thursday is from Bosnia. He says,  "just five steps to change our lives forever," meaning just win five matches and he will fulfill his mission, and his faith removes any anxiety.

As he said, "This is way beyond
me ... I'm here for the ride!"

Thanks for all your support readers. Today we will go watch some live judo matches and
I'll do some more imagery and relaxation training with Adler. He is one of the best that I have ever seen mentally ... yet
he also realizes that he needs to be tip-top shape physically as well as mentally. So he takes our work together seriously ... looking for ever-so-slight an edge.

I'm going to get some more sleep now.

Journal Star

Editor's note: Sports psychologist Dr. John Murray is providing Journal Star readers daily updates from the Olympics. The former tennis pro and Florida resident is working with judo competitor Adler Volmar. The goal is to offer insight into the mental and psychological aspect of sports, right up to Volmar's matches and immediately following them. The doctor will add some Beijing observations both inside and outside the sports venues. Murray's full work and profile can be found on his own Web site:

http://www.johnfmurray.com/

Sunday - Detroit - 2:15 PM

If you are going to the Olympics, and especially as far away as Beijing, you better not miss the flight, so I stayed the night in a Ft. Lauderdale hotel not far from the airport and we just arrived in Detroit to catch the flight to Tokyo and then on to the big city.

I flew up with Crystal and we met her father, Earl, smartly attired in his red, white and blue sporting clothes, so the three of us can pursue with Adler (Volmar) the mission of (judo) gold.

Over lunch we discussed again how all athletes need to believe totally in their abilities and in their chance of actually winning the gold. At the same time, the best athletes -- Adler included -- know that while they are giving their best and outworking and out-thinking their opponents in preparation for the big day, ultimately outcome is decided by a higher force, be it spiritual or the mere fact that as hard as you prepare there might be someone else on the other side of the mat who prepared longer, smarter, or better.

Still you pursue the dream with total confidence and willpower, with the best possible strategy, nutrition and physical training possible.

Another topic that came up over lunch was the "Tiger Woods" element. This is the flow that was written about so long ago in the book "Flow" in the 1960s. There are a lot of cliches that cover the topic of focus and concentration, but so few athletes come even close to maximizing their use of flow.

Just look at the history of Olympic records and how records are broken every year, and how it is almost a steady progression of faster times and greater strength, so if you examine the Olympics 100 years from today the accomplishments of today will look very average. Mentally this highlights that we are never truly reaching our human potential in sports -- but only approaching an unlimited human potential.

OK, enough philosophizing for now. I am seated amongst about an 80 percent population of Japanese citizens returning to their homeland as we all three get ready to board the massive 747 with upstairs seating and a food/drink lounge to Tokyo.

The upcoming 14 hours of flying would seem taxing if not for the fact that less than two years ago I flew down to Australia with Vince Spadea for the three tournaments at the start of the 2007 season -- Adelaide, Sydeny and Melbourne and it was about a 26 hour trek! So, we are all excited to join Adler in Beijing as this two time Olympian gets ready for his day of destiny on August 14.

-- Dr. John Murray