Garima Chaudhary (born 2 April 1990) is an Indian judoka. She was India's sole judoka at the

2012 London 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 ...

, competing in the Women's (63 kg) category .

Childhood and early training

Born to parents hailing from a

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Com ...

family, Chaudhary was inclined to sports during her childhood. She was good at sports such as

kabaddi Kabaddi is a contact team sport. Played between two teams of seven players, the objective of the game is for a single player on offence, referred to as a "raider", to run into the opposing team's half of the court, touch out as many of their ...

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

and cricket. While the father of Chaudhary remained concerned about her education, her mother continued to encourage her interest in sports. She represented her native state of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

initially. Due to lack of suitable support from the state's sports association, she began representing

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land a ...

in national-level competitions. Since 2004, Chaudhary has been training with Jiwan Sharma and Divya Sharma at

Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the '' Qila Mubarak'' (the 'Fortunate Castle') construct ...

-based National Institute of Sports. Due to lack of proper facilities, she had to practice with boys. Chaudhury found this to be a good way to train. Sharma says that attributes such as self-belief, hard work and a winning attitude are Chaudhary's strengths.

2012 Summer Olympics

She participated at the

2011 World Judo Championships The 2011 World Judo Championships were held at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France from 23 to 28 August. Schedule Medal summary Men's events Women's events Medal table Participating nations 871 competitors from ...

held in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

and at the World Cup as a part of her qualification for the 2012 Summer Olympics. At the

2012 Asian Judo Championships The 2012 Asian Judo Championships were the 19th edition of the Asian Judo Championships, and were held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from April 27 to April 29, 2012. Medal summary Men Women Medal table Participating nations 185 athletes from ...

held in Tashkent, she finished seventh in the 63 kg category. As a result of her performances, she earned 34 points and the eligibility to represent

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

at the London Olympics. In order to prepare for the Olympics, Chaudhary trained in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. She underwent a more competition-oriented training, studied her opponents, and focused on specific fitness aspects. In the first elimination round of the Women's (63 kg) category at the

, Chaudhary was defeated by

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 re ...

by an

Ippon is the highest score a fighter can achieve in a Japanese martial arts ''ippon-wazari'' contest, usually kendo, judo, karate or jujitsu. In Judo In Judo, an ippon may be scored for a throw, a pin, a choke or a jointlock. For throws, the four ...

in 81 seconds. Although this ended her challenge at the Olympics, India's sports administrators felt that she is a good medal prospect at the

Glasgow Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

and the Incheon Asian Games — both in 2014. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Chaudhary reached the quarter finals. In South Asian Games 2019, She won gold medal in Women's 70Kg weight class.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chaudhary, Garima Indian female judoka 1990 births Living people Judoka at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic judoka of India Judoka at the 2010 Asian Games Judoka at the 2018 Asian Games Indian female martial artists Sportswomen from Uttar Pradesh Sportspeople from Meerut 21st-century Indian women 21st-century Indian people Martial artists from Uttar Pradesh Asian Games competitors for India Judoka at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for India South Asian Games medalists in judo South Asian Games gold medalists for India