"But then we hugged and I said to him, 'One more match!' "

For 31-year-old Clayton, seeing his 25-year-old brother, Clifton, move on to the finals and defeat John Matsuoka for the Sunada family's first Olympic team berth was just like getting there himself.

So, when Clayton refers to Atlanta, he says, "We're fighting," and that's just fine with Clifton.

"I'm fighting for everyone," said Clifton who will compete in the 132-pound division.

That includes 28-year-old brother Clinton, who, like Clayton, had won numerous national honors in judo before Clifton even began training.

"It was just as much a joy for me to watch their reactions when the trials were over as it was for me to win," said Clifton, who has lived in Colorado Springs with Clayton for seven years.

"Being the youngest brother, it was difficult for him living up to us," said Clayton. "He had a lot of burden on his shoulders."

Unlike Clayton and Clinton, Clifton never had to lose weight to qualify in the 132-pound division. "He was always having to eat to make weight," said Clayton.

"Clinton's 5-foot-5, I'm 5-4 but Clif is pushing 5-foot-2," said Clayton."People were always telling him he was too small to make it."

Up until this year, he was always too light to even get into the Olympic team trials.

Clifton admits to getting picked on and thrown around a lot by his older siblings when he was a little kid.

"But I'm glad now because it helped me," he said.

Whatever his brothers taught him will come in handy when he meets the highly physical judokas from the former Soviet Union on the Olympic mat. They are opponents he lost to in the World Championships.

"There'll be a lot of grappling," he said. "I know they are physically very strong, and they have the basic training for explosiveness."

Both brothers and the rest of the Sunada clan will be in Atlanta for him. Clifton's father, Ken Sunada, has rented a house in the city.

They were there for him in the beginning and again two years ago when the training became much tougher than he'd ever expected, and he considered dropping out for a while.

The reinforcement he received from his family was critical two months ago when his Olympic preparation struck a potentially disastrous iceberg.

Working out with Clayton, Clifton injured his left knee.

"I did not think about it," he said. "But when I got up the next morning I could not walk on it - it was swollen and tender. I took a week off - then went to doctor. Four weeks ago, I had surgery to repair a torn miniscus."

Despite that, Clifton said he feels in tip-top shape heading into the Games.

"He just needs to get ready mentally, and he needs to be alone to do that," said Clayton.

Clifton checked into the Olympic Village yesterday and is now as alone as he's ever been.

The biggest worry on Clifton's mind is not whether or not he can become only the second Hawaii judoka to win an Olympic medal (Kevin Asano won silver in 1988).

"No, it's not that," he said. Referring to the fact that he only gets two free tickets for his parents and his brothers will have to pay between $60 and $70 to watch him, Clifton said, "I sure hope I can make it worth their while at those prices."