Kayla Harrison, of the United States, holds up her gold medal after the women's 78-kg judo competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012, in London.
Kayla Harrison, of the United States, holds up her gold medal after the women's 78-kg judo competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012, in London. Paul Sancya, Associated Press
By Associated Press

Maybe it was the socks.

U.S. judo gold medalist Kayla Harrison is superstitious, so she made sure things were exactly how she wanted them at the London Games.

"I'm big on ritual and I'm big on patterns and I get comfortable," Harrison said. "And when I get comfortable, I get confident. And when I get confident, I win."

So when coach Jimmy Pedro needed to pick a suit for Thursday's matches, he and Harrison decided that he shouldn't wear the USA Judo one that failed to deliver Olympic gold earlier in the tournament. He went instead with his opening ceremony outfit.

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Harrison, meanwhile, wore the lucky socks that her grandmother gave her six years ago and played her lucky playlist.

Now she's got another lucky charm — Olympic gold.

— Tim Reynolds — Twitter http://www.twitter.com/ByTimReynolds

EDITOR'S NOTE — "Eyes on London" shows you the Olympics through the eyes of Associated Press journalists across the 2012 Olympic city and around the world. Follow them on Twitter where available with the handles listed after each item.

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