Martin Boonzaayer knows all about precision.
When he was 5, he could assemble a pastry box in his father’s bakery in Kalamazoo, Mich., in six seconds.
He earned a degree in computer science from Western Michigan in 1994–summa cum laude.
Boonzaayer always has been meticulous, which is why a slight miscalculation on an attack early in a judo tournament four years ago was unusual for the former research and development engineer.
It wasn’t just any judo tournament either. It was the Olympics.
His first Olympics ended 32 seconds after his first match began in Sydney when a small judgment error allowed Angel Sanchez of Cuba to defeat Boonzaayer. On Friday at Ano Liossia Olympic Hall, Boonzaayer is unlikely to make the same mistake.
“It was extremely upsetting,” Boonzaayer, 31, said. “You don’t go to the Olympics just to show up and get eliminated. That was a real blow.”
Boonzaayer will compete in his second and final Olympics wiser, calmer and stronger–mentally, anyway.
He’ll weigh about 50 pounds less than his opponents in the heavyweight division and won’t have as much recent international experience as the world’s top performers.
Boonzaayer had been lucky to find sparring partners close to his 6-foot-1-inch, 250-pound frame living a reasonable distance from his Hoffman Estates home.
“Let’s face it: On the international stage, I’m not a powerhouse,” Boonzaayer said.
Despite the shortcomings in his training regimen, Boonzaayer is having his best year since he took up the sport competitively in 1995 while completing a master’s degree in electrical engineering at Arizona State. He won the national championship this year and last, as well as a bronze medal at the 2003 Pan American Games.
The turning point came about a year ago, shortly after he ended a two-year hiatus from the sport. Before his break, Boonzaayer had struggled to juggle an engineering job and train under 2000 Olympics coach Steve Cohen in Buffalo Grove.
“I don’t feel I did either to the best of my ability,” he said.
In 2001 Boonzaayer told his wife, Tina, that he was finished. His conflicts were rooted in his upbringing by Dutch parents who stressed academics and hard work over athletics.
“It was too ingrained in me that athletics is not the No. 1 thing in your life,” he said. “Not that work was. But in engineering, if you take a step back, it would be hard to get back in at the same level because it moves so quickly.”
A career change that has evolved in the last few years gave Boonzaayer flexibility and time to devote himself to his family, which now includes an 8-month-old son, Samuel, and to judo workouts.
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He’s now a father, husband, successful distributor for a nutrition company and two-time Olympian–in that order. His victories in judo no longer validate him, and recent tournament results indicate he’s better off with his new outlook.
“It’s a relaxed intensity,” his wife said.
“I’ve really had the mentality that I’m just going to do my best, and whatever God wants to bring out of this is fine,” Boonzaayer said. “If he closes the door, that’s great. If he opens the door, I’ll keep going.
“The doors have just kept opening.”