Quarter of a ton of gentle giant - Guam man mountain's Olympic adventure ends in tears



Weighing in at somewhere near a quarter of a ton, he is probably the biggest competitor to appear at this or any other modern Olympics.

The walking mini-mountain is Ricardo Blas Jnr, a judo competitor from Guam who smashes the scales — and pretty much everything else he happens to step on —at an incredible 33 stones and one single solitary solo pound.

The Pacific Islander folk hero surpasses listed Games weight records by 44lbs — and possibly even more by now if he’s just had dinner.



Man mountain: Guam's Ricardo Blas Jr weighs in at a mammoth 33 stone

And while it is often said that inside every fat man there’s a thin man trying to get out, that is not the case with Blas.

He is a fat man trapped in an obese person’s body, a shape he says he maintains through ‘island life and training’.

Island life appears to consist of eating, weight training and eating.

Blas could sit at the opposite end of a see-saw to China’s entire six-girl gymnastics team and still flip them over the fence of the Olympic village.

‘I don’t have any diet secrets,’ he said, perhaps a little superfluously.

‘I just eat anything — whatever I feel like,’ and it’s hard to fight the inclination to take half a step back, just in case.

Luckily he prefers ‘a lot of beef, a lot of chicken, a lot of protein’.

Although he could just as easily have ended that sentence after saying ‘a lot’.

But Blas is happy in himself and doesn’t mind the jibes.



‘I am who Iam, I’ve always been big,’ he said.

‘Growing up you get teased a bit but judo has helped me push past it for sure.’



I’m prepared to bet it was quite a squeeze. Enough.



For all his size and girth, black-belt Blas is immensely serious about representing his sport and his country.



He did not just turn up in China intending to make up the numbers and inside that big frame there is an even bigger heart.

Blas Jr competing against Georgia's Lasha Gujejiani in the men's 100kg+ category preliminary round in Beijing

Having finished seventh at the world championships, the aim was to reach the latter stages of the super heavyweight contest and make his homeland and his father— a former Olympic judoka in Seoul and current president of the island’s Olympic Committee —very proud indeed.

His first challenger is a Georgian, Lasha Gujejiani, who tackles Blas as if trying to gain some purchase on an enormous beach ball.



At one point, the Eastern European even tries to lift Guam’s giant over his shoulder and chiropractors watching on television across Beijing move to the edge of their seats, anticipating a lucrative new job opportunity.

But 33 stones will not be shifted.

Blas is immoveable. There is another reason for this.



He is huffing and puffing and unable to do much himself, aside from gasp for breath, and suffers an early defeat.

There is one more chance to stay in the tournament in the repechage, but he is little better against American Dan McCormick and exits without so much as a thud.

And now he is blubbing.



This affable, usually happy, 33 stoneman is filling up with tears.

‘I’m sorry man,’ he said, apologising for getting emotional.



‘I have a message to the people back home. Sorry I let you down.

‘I feel so bad. I just froze outthere. My size usually helps but sometimes people surprise you.'

These Games have still been a feast of memories he will treasure long beyond his 21 years.



He entered the Bird’s Nest stadium as flag-bearer for Guam’s team of just half a dozen athletes and 170,000 island inhabitants.



‘I’ll be back for the next one in London,’ he said.



And you know he will be. He always does seconds.