ZACHARY - Before the Winter Olympics, WBRZ met two residents from Zachary who are already international winners, not in winter sports, but in Jiu-Jitsu.

Duayne Watts and Carley Harper have been training in Jiu-Jitsu for less than 10 years. They say their recent trip from their hometown of Zachary to Libson, Portugal, still feels surreal. The tournament was the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation European Championship, held from January 15 to 24 in Lisbon.

"Extremely cool, from the standpoint of excitement, the adrenaline is still running," Watts said.

"Unreal, just the hand raises are a high that we chase, and it's a high I can't explain until you step on the mats and they raise your hand," Harper said.

The pair trains at Excelsior Gym in Zachary, and owner and instructor Nathan Lott says there were thousands of competitors from around the world, and says that the pair's accomplishment at the international level brings special attention to their hometown.

"You're not only talking about some of the best in your area. You're talking about fighting against the best competitors in the world; it's a really big deal to go on that level and fight the best in the world and to win, " Lott said.

Watt is 64 years old and has been training in Jiu-Jitsu for seven years.

"The team here takes a role with whatever athlete there is at whatever age and whatever effort you want to put into it. I originally started with just a two-days-a-week mindset. I'm at five days a week now," he said.

He told WBRZ that the winning mindset begins at the gym.

"The winning is right here in the gym, in the academy here, we can learn different techniques whenever we get to the mat. Hopefully, we're prepared to accommodate anybody's style that we come up against," She said.

Harper began training 5 years ago; she never imagined the sport would take her around the world.

"I didn't know I'd leave Zachary with it. It was just something I wanted to do a couple of times a week, just for exercise," She said.