Alice Schlesinger ( he, אליס שלזינגר; born May 26, 1988) is an Israeli-British retired

judoka is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...

and

sambo , aka = Sombo (in English-speaking countries) , focus = Hybrid , country = Soviet Union , pioneers = Viktor Spiridonov, Vasili Oshchepkov, Anatoly Kharlampiev , famous_pract = List of Practitioners , oly ...

competitor. Born in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, she competed for that country until 2014, but following a dispute with the national federation she has started competing for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

, of whom she is a citizen through her English-born mother. Judo World Championship bronze medalist (2009), bronze medalist of Judo European Championships (

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

), world champion in Sambo (2013, 2014), world champion in

Kurash 'HISTORY OF KURASH'' Kurash is an ancient type of upright jacket grappling which originated in the territory of modern Uzbekistan. According to the latest scientific research the age of Kurash is at least three and a half thousand years. Kurash is ...

(2013).

Early life

Schlesinger was born and raised in

Herzliya Herzliya ( ; he, הֶרְצְלִיָּה ; ar, هرتسليا, Hirtsiliyā) is an affluent city in the central coast of Israel, at the northern part of the Tel Aviv District, known for its robust start-up and entrepreneurial culture. In it h ...

. Her father is an

Israeli Jew Israeli Jews or Jewish Israelis ( he, יהודים ישראלים, translit=Yehudim Yisraelim) are Israeli citizens and nationals who are Jewish through either their Jewish ethnicity and/or their adherence to Judaism. The term also include ...

, whereas her mother is

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

-born and a

convert to Judaism Conversion to Judaism ( he, גיור, ''giyur'') is the process by which non-Jews adopt the Jewish religion and become members of the Jewish ethnoreligious community. It thus resembles both conversion to other religions and naturalization. "Th ...

. Her brother introduced her to the sport as a child and her parents took her to competitions on weekends. She is trained by her Israeli boyfriend/coach, Pavel Musin.

Judo career

For Israel

Schlesinger has won two Israel national championships (including in 2004, at U57). She also won Continental gold medals in the U17, U20, and U23 competitions. In July 2004, she won the European U17 Judo Championships, at U57, in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. In October 2004, she won a bronze medal at the U20 World Judo Championships, at U57, in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. In July 2005, at the age of 17, Schlesinger competed in the

2005 Maccabiah Games The 17th Maccabiah Games ( he, המכביה ה-17 ישראל תשס"ה), held in Israel, were an incarnation of the 'Jewish Olympics.' They attracted the largest attendance of any Maccabiah Games, including more than 900 representatives from the Un ...

, winning the gold medal by defeating the world champion and former Israeli

Daniela Krukower Daniela Yael Krukower ( he, דניאלה קרוקובר; born 6 January 1975 in Colegiales, Buenos Aires) is a former judoka from Argentina. Biography Krukower was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina to a Jewish family, and at an early age moved wit ...

. In October 2005, she won a bronze medal at the European U20 Judo Championships, at U63, in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. In September 2006, she won a silver medal at the European U20 Judo Championships, at U63, in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

. Despite the medal, she said: "I had a mediocre tournament. I made mistakes in the final. I plan to go over those mistakes with my coach and correct what needs to be corrected". In October 2007, she won the European U20 Judo Championship, at U63, in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. She competed at the age of 20 on behalf of

Israel at the 2008 Summer Olympics Israel competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. This was Israel's fourteenth participation in the Summer Olympics. Israel sent 43 athletes to compete in Beijing, the largest Israeli delegation in Olympic history, with the previous ...

in Beijing, China, as a half-middleweight at U63, and placed 13th, losing to French silver medalist

Lucie Décosse Lucie Décosse (born 6 August 1981 in Chaumont) is a retired female French judoka. Career Décosse competed in the half-middleweight (57–63 kg) category until 2008. Thereafter, she switched to the middleweight (63–70 kg) category ...

. In April 2008 and April 2009, she won bronze medals at the

2008 European Judo Championships The 2008 European Judo Championships were the nineteenth edition of the European Judo Championships, held in the Altice Arena, in Lisbon, Portugal, from April 11 to April 13, 2008. Medal overview Men Women Medal table Results ove ...

and

2009 European Judo Championships The 2009 European Judo Championships were held at the Sports Palace, in Tbilisi, Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast Unite ...

, at U63, in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

, Portugal, and

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

, Georgia. In August 2009, she won a bronze medal in the

2009 World Judo Championships The 2009 World Judo Championships was held in the Ahoy indoor sporting arena in Rotterdam, the Netherlands on 26 to 30 August. Women's heavyweight champion Tong Wen was stripped of her gold medal because of a doping offence, but was later reins ...

, at U63, in Rotterdam. In November 2009 she won the European U23 Judo Championship, at U63, in

Antalya Antalya () is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, fifth-most populous city in Turkey as well as the capital of Antalya Province. Located on Anatolia's southwest coast bordered by the Taurus Mountains, Antalya is the largest Turkish cit ...

, Turkey. The

Olympic Committee of Israel The Olympic Committee of Israel (Hebrew: הוועד האולימפי בישראל) is the recognized National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Israel, and the governing body of Olympic sports in Israel. The OCI's headquarters is located at the Natio ...

selected her as its 2009 co-Athlete of the Year. In August 2011, Schlesinger was ranked 6th in the world in her weight class. In September 2011, she won a silver medal at a Grand Prix in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

, Germany, at U63. She lost only one match, in the finals by judges' decision to

Yoshie Ueno is a Japanese judoka. She won the gold medal in the Half-middleweight (63 kg) division at the 2009 World Judo Championships and in 2010, in 2011 she lost the final to local hero Gévrise Émane. Her elder sister is Masae Ueno, who r ...

of Japan, the world champion for the prior two years, after beating four opponents, including European champion

Elisabeth Willeboordse Elisabeth Willeboordse (born 14 September 1978 in Middelburg, Zeeland) is a female judoka from the Netherlands, who won the title in the women's –63 kg division at the 2005 European Championships. A year later, when Tampere, Finland ho ...

of the Netherlands. In July 2012 Schlesinger reached the quarter finals of the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

but lost to Urska Zolnir of

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. Following the London Olympics, Schlesinger and the

Israel Judo Association The Israel Judo Association (Hebrew: ) is a sports association in Israel, and its headquarters is located in Tel Aviv, Israel. The Association operates Israel's national judo teams, holds the Israeli Judo Championships for different age classif ...

(IJA) became embroiled in a much publicized conflict. Schlesinger says that the IJA ordered her to put on weight so she could move up a weight class, to make room for

Yarden Gerbi Yarden Gerbi (or Jerbi, he, ירדן ג'רבי; born July 8, 1989) is an Israeli former judoka world champion. She won an Olympic bronze medal competing for Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics, in Women's 63 kg Judo. Gerbi won the gold m ...

in the under-63 kg class. Her personal trainer's salary was also cut by the IJA. The IJA denies she was asked to change weight classes, and says it moved to a different, team-oriented coaching program which required Schlesinger to change coaches. As a result of the conflict, Schlesinger decided to stop competing for the Israeli national team, and to compete instead for Great Britain.

For Great Britain

In December 2014 the International Judo Federation confirmed that former Israeli Olympian Alice Schlesinger will now compete for

. Since then, her accomplishments include a silver medal at the European Judo Open in Sofia, Bulgaria, a gold medal at the 2015 Grand Prix in Düsseldorf, and a silver medal at the European Women's Judo Open in Prague. At the

2016 Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro ...

, she beat

Bak Ji-yun Bak Ji-yun (, born 21 September 1992) is a South Korean judoka. She competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the women's 63 kg event, in which she was eliminated in the first round by Alice Schlesinger Alice Schlesinger ( he, אליס שלז� ...

in the first round before losing to

Anicka van Emden Anicka van Emden (born 10 December 1986) is a Dutch retired judoka who won a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro (shared with Yarden Gerbi). She also won bronze medals at the 2011 and 2013 World Judo Championships. Since ...

in the second round. At the April 2017 European Championships in Warsaw, Poland, she won a bronze medal in the -63 kg. In May 2019, Schlesinger was selected to compete at the

2019 European Games , translation: Time for bright victories! , nations participating = 50 , athletes participating = 4,082 , events = 200 in 15 sports , opening ceremony = 21 June , closing ceremony = 30 June , officially opened ...

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

Medals

Sources:

References

External links

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For Alice Schlesinger
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schlesinger, Alice 1988 births Living people Israeli female judoka Israeli Jews British Jews English female judoka Israeli people of British descent Olympic judoka of Israel Olympic judoka of Great Britain Judoka at the 2008 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2012 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2016 Summer Olympics Jewish Israeli sportspeople Jewish martial artists People from Herzliya Maccabiah Games medalists in judo Maccabiah Games gold medalists for Israel Competitors at the 2005 Maccabiah Games English people of Israeli descent Judoka at the 2015 European Games Judoka at the 2019 European Games European Games medalists in judo European Games silver medalists for Great Britain Universiade gold medalists for Israel Medalists at the 2013 Summer Universiade