The Two Sides of Sarah Rousey

Rousey blossomed in her first full WPBA season, winning Rookie of the Year honors in 2003.

Less than a year after being diagnosed, just short of her 11th birthday, Rousey entered her first BCA Junior Nationals. "I couldn't even make a bridge," she says. Adds her dad: "Sarah was the smallest one in the tournament." She eventually placed an amazing third, beaten only by champion Kara Wroldson and runner-up Tiffany Nelson. "Tiffany was real mean to me," Sarah recalls with a chuckle. "I played her my first match and she got me on three straight fouls seven games in a row. I didn't even know what that rule was back then. She went on to beat me, 9-0. We're good friends now, but I still remind her about that match and that I'm still out for revenge." Says Tiffany: "I can't believe I did that to her. I probably just learned the three-foul rule and wanted to try it out. I know that Sarah uses [that loss] to this day as a motivation to never lose to me - and, believe it or not, it works!"

Rousey finished second in the Junior Nationals in 1996 and 1999 before finally snapping it off in 2000.

She first gained respect from her fellow pros in 2002 when she finished seventh at the U.S. Open. In the time since, she's captured a slew of top 10s and had her highest finish with an appearance in the semifinals at the 2008 Nationals.

"You'll never hear Sarah complain," her mom says, "but I know how much she goes through to just get through a match. People have no idea. The poor kid sometimes has a blood-sugar level as low as 30 (a good level is between 100-150) and she's suffering through these severe headaches and she's playing as if she's not even there."

When Rousey's blood sugar is too low, producing the effect of having a hangover ("only worse," she says), she'll reach for some glucose tabs, then take a break to munch on a power bar or suck down a Coke. "Sometimes, if the attack is really bad," she says, "I'll feel like I'm on the verge of blacking out."

When it's too high, she'll become unfocused, confused, lackadaisical, as well as extremely thirsty and, at times, gasping for breath. She encountered such an incident at an important juncture during her successful showing at the 2008 Nationals. Just before playing Karen Corr in the third round of the winners bracket, her blood sugar soared to 400. "I was having trouble with my insulin pump infusion set," she says, "and I didn't have time to fix it."

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