![]() The kidnapping was filmed in a dramatic video that eventually led to the abuductor’s arrest. Salem Sabatka, 8, was snatched while out walking with her mother. Worth, Texas community on Saturday, May 18, was rescued by police early Sunday morning and is safe. Michael Webb, 51, has been charged with her abduction.Ī young girl abducted from a south Ft. Ranking first overall on the 2020 corporals examġ0.Salem Sabatka, 8, was kidnapped on May 18 while walking down the street with her mother in a Ft. Becoming a Commissioned Police Officer in June, 2011ĩ. Won the 2006 Senior National Best Technique AwardĨ. Won the 2006 Senior National Outstanding Female Athlete AwardĦ. Resident athlete at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springsĥ. Fastest ippon (punch) at the 2004 OlympicsĤ. My children Mikah Jane (4) and Westin Joseph (1)ģ. It taught me what it takes to be successful."ġ. "All those years of sacrificing and working hard. Nikki hopes this will enforce resilience among the children, another common thread between her and her father. Through the police department’s Police Athlete League (PAL) program, an athletic league sponsored by the FWPD that teaches children self-defense and self-empowerment, Nikki supports burgeoning judokas. And while her judo skills do, in fact, come in handy, it’s not always in the way you’d expect. Following the misfortune, Kubes followed in her father’s footsteps and joined the Fort Worth Police Department, where she now serves as a detective. Nikki would continue training under Dyers while attending TCU, but a knee injury would sideline her from competing in the sport for good. "I had the fastest throw of the entire Olympics," Nikki says about the grappling technique that involves throwing an opponent to the ground. And while she didn’t bring home any hardware, Nikki did depart with some impressive new stats. “I didn't really understand what I was getting involved in or the extent of my capabilities," Kubes says. "I just knew I loved the sport." At the end of the competition, Kubes finished ninth. The two remain friends to this day, by the way. "Everything felt pointless."įollowing this short-lived break, Nikki, at the age of 17, made the 2004 Olympic team and was one of the youngest competitors hitting the mats in the host nation of Greece - barely eked out by Ronda Rousey, who was the youngest judo Olympian and Kubes’ roommate. "I took a year off to be a normal teen, and I was miserable," Nikki laughs. Dyer, an alternate for the Olympics himself, shared his connections and resources with the two Kubes girls and even sent the pair to Japan for training.īut if you're worried such devotion caused Nikki to miss out on defining adolescent milestones, think again. ![]() “He had two daughters, so he wanted us to know how to protect ourselves.” The girls started attending the Fort Worth Judo Club, where both Brigette and Nikki met prolific champion and coach Tommy Dyer. ![]() “My father was in law enforcement for 30 years,” Kubes says. ![]() It was Nikki’s father, Joe Kubes, who introduced her and her sister, Brigette, to judo when Nikki was only 7. “But in judo, every pound matters."ĭespite having a last name associated with a premium jeweler (yes, Nikki is part of that same Kubes family), Nikki avoided the normal fixation on fashion trends or getting weekly manicures and, instead, spent the majority of her adolescence training for the Olympics - a goal that requires a work ethic and commitment seldom seen adults, much less kids. "It's not exactly the dream of every young girl to lift weights every day and choke down creatine to bulk up,” the former Olympian and current Fort Worth police officer jokes. ![]() It's hard to imagine Nikki Kubes, a beautiful, tall blonde - lithe yet solid - growing to the 170-plus pounds necessary to compete in the heavy-weight division of judo. ![]()
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