Ari Berliner eats, sleeps and breathes judo.

“I love the physicality. I love feeling absolutely dead after practice," Berliner said.

Berliner, a 25-year-old native of Cumming, Ga., has been competing in the martial art since he was a youth, and his goal is to be on the world stage in 2028.

What You Need To Know

  • Ari Berliner recently competed in the World Judo Championships

  • Ari trains at the Jason Morris Judo Center; Morris was a 1992 Olympian, winning the silver medal

  • Ari practices nine times a week in addition to other workouts

“I don't just want to go and lose [in the] first round and be out. It's not my goal in life. I want to win, be on the podium, stand as an Olympic champion," Berliner said.

In May, Berliner traveled to Abu Dhabi to compete in the World Judo Championships, the highest level of international competition for judo besides the Olympics. Despite being defeated in the round of 64 in the 66-kg weight division, he’s ranked 51st in the world by the International Judo Federation for his weight class.

There’s a lot of training that goes into being a future Olympian.

“We generally practice nine times a week just for judo. And then on top of that, we do lifting, cardio, whatever extracurriculars, speed or jumping plyometrics. We train constantly. So I'm either at work, school, or doing some kind of physical activity. All day, every day," Berliner said.

Ari trains at the Jason Morris Judo Center in Glenville. A U.S. Judo Hall of Famer, Morris — a Syracuse University alumnus — went to the Olympics four times, winning the 1992 silver medal as a half-middleweight. Now, he trains everyone to love the sport, including hopefuls like Berliner.

"Every kid that sticks with [the training program] is consistent, becomes [at] minimum a national player, which is ... pretty cool competing in the nationals," Morris said.