7-year-old Tri-Cities girl is national Judo champion — with 3 gold medals to prove it

Amilia Sofia Lechuga has a million-watt smile, a mean throw and three gold medals.

And the 7-year-old Pasco girl only started learning judo in September.

She earned two of those medals at the USA Judo Junior Olympics in June and then earned another at the U.S. Judo Championships in Orlando in late July.

She went undefeated against competitors from across the country at both competitions. Now she is the top-ranked competitor in the nation for her weight class.

What Amilia likes best about winning is seeing the hard work pay off, she said.

“You earn the medals here (at the dojo) and you pick them up at the competitions,” she said repeating a phrase told to her by instructors.

Asia Borisch, her teacher and role model at Tri-City Judo, said Amilia is a hard worker.

“She always does her best,” Borisch said. “She never quits. She tries 100 percent all of the time, even when she’s frustrated.”

Amilia enjoys the competition, her friends and her senseis (teachers) at the Edison Street school.

Her mother, Amanda Lechuga, said they were looking for a way for Amilia to get out of the house get some exercise and some social interaction after months of being stuck at home because of COVID-19.

“You can’t go wrong with self-defense or some kind of martial art, so I happened to be online and looking at all of the different dojos and I liked this one because they have female sensei here,” Amanda said.

Amilia really likes seeing women role models she can emulate.

Success on the mat

Turned out Amilia was quite the competitor.

At Girl Scout events, she is generally fairly quiet.

“Then to see her on the mat, both me and my husband and I think quite a few people here were very surprised to see that side of her, the competitor in her, come out,” said her mom.

After taking bronze at her first competition, Amilia started working harder.

She went from going to the dojo twice a week to coming in five times a week and taking extra lessons. She helps the younger children and practices with the adults.

She is always looking for a harder challenge, and has learned the names of the other competitors and coaches.

And she can even recognize the martial arts moves in movies.

Her father, Angelo Lechuga, said she started as a shy and quiet kid, and coming to the dojo has really opened her up.

“Within a month of her being here being here, the confidence was through the roof and you can’t put a price on that,” said her mom.

“Here they learn that they help each other out,” her dad said. “They don’t pick on each other.”

With how invested Amilia is, her mom expects she will stick it out.

“When she’s committed, she’s all in,” she said.