Raffaella Imbriani

Raffaella Imbriani (born 24 January 1973 in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg) is a German judoka who competed in the women's half-lightweight category.[1] She held five German senior titles in her own division, picked up a total of thirty-five medals in her career, including four from major international tournaments (European and World Championships), and represented Germany in the 52-kg class at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Imbriani also trained for Judo Club Ettlingen and then Judo League in Brandenburg under her personal coach and sensei Wolfgang Zuckschwerdt.[2][3]

Raffaella Imbriani
Personal information
Full nameRaffaella Imbriani
Nationality Germany
Born (1973-01-24) 24 January 1973
Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg,
West Germany
Height1.58 m (5 ft 2 in)
Weight52 kg (115 lb)
Sport
SportJudo
Event(s)52 kg
ClubJudo League Brandenburg
Coached byWolfgang Zuckschwerdt
Medal record
Women's judo
Representing  Germany
World Championships
2001 Munich 52 kg
2003 Osaka 52 kg
European Championships
1998 Oveido 52 kg
1999 Bratislava 52 kg

Imbriani reached the pinnacle of her sporting career at the 2001 World Judo Championships in Munich, where she picked up a silver in the 52-kg division, losing shamefully to North Korean judoka and 1996 Olympic champion Kye Sun-hui in front of her home crowd.[4][5] Two years later, she shared bronze medals with Japan's Yuki Yokosawa in the same division at the 2003 World Judo Championships in Osaka, Japan, which guaranteed her a spot on the German judo squad for her major Olympic debut.[6][7]

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Imbriani qualified for the German squad in the women's half-lightweight class (52 kg), by placing third from the World Championships in Osaka, Japan.[6][8] Imbriani got off to a firm start with convincing victories over U.S. judoka Charlee Minkin and the host nation Greece's Maria Tselaridou in the prelims, before she succumbed to a waza-ari awasete ippon hold from China's Xian Dongmei with only forty-five seconds in the time limit during their quarterfinal match.[9] Imbriani gave herself a chance for an Olympic bronze medal in the repechage round, but fell short to Algeria's Salima Souakri, who threw her off the tatami with a solid grip and a waza-ari hold forty seconds before their match ended.[10][11]

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Raffaella Imbriani". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  2. "Raffaela Imbriani kämpft in Judo-Bundesliga für Brandenburg" [Raffaella Imbriani fights for the Judo League in Brandenburg] (in German). Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten. 29 November 2003. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  3. "Raffaella Imbriani steckt sich neue Ziele" [Raffaella Imbriani set new goals] (in German). Hamburger Morgenpost. 29 July 2001. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  4. "British hopes thrown off course". UK Sport. 28 July 2001. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  5. "Raffaella Imbriani erreichte WM Finale – Silber schon sicher" [Raffaella Imbriani reaches the final at World Champs with a silver medal] (in German). Hamburger Morgenpost. 28 July 2001. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  6. "Yvonne Bönisch mit Silber ins Krankenhaus" [Yvonne Bönisch takes silver being hospitalized] (in German). Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. 13 September 2003. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  7. "Cuba's Savon Wins her First Judo World Championships Gold". Xinhua. China Radio International. 29 September 2003. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  8. "Klein, stark, weiblich" [Small, powerful, female] (in German). Die Welt. 25 July 2004. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  9. "Half Moon Bay judo athlete downed in Athens". The Jewish Week. 15 August 2004. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  10. "Judo: Women's Half-Lightweight (52kg/115 lbs) Repechage Round 2". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 15 August 2004. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  11. ""Kleine Tigerin" kämpfte mit den Tränen" ["Small tigress" fought back tears] (in German). Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. 16 August 2004. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
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