Georgina Singleton (born 11 October 1977 in Ascot, Berkshire, England) is an English

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"). ...

who competed in the women's half-lightweight category.

Judo career

She held four

British Judo Championships The British Judo Championships are held annually and feature various age and weight categories to determine the British champion. The Championships are currently held at the English Institute of Sport, Sheffield. Until 2013, the Championships wer ...

titles in her own division, picked up a total of thirty-nine medals in her career, including four from major international tournaments (

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

, Summer Universiade, Commonwealth Games), and finished seventh in the 52-kg class at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. Throughout most of her sporting career, Singleton trained for fifteen years at the Pinewood Judo Club in Wokingham under her personal coach and sensei Don Werner (who died in January 2014). A graduate of the University of Bath, she also worked as a math teacher. Singleton reached the pinnacle of her sporting career at the

2002 European Judo Championships The 2002 European Judo Championships were the 13th edition of the European Judo Championships, and were held in Maribor, Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country i ...

Maribor, Slovenia Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, the seat of the Drava stati ...

, where she defeated Spain's

Ana Carrascosa Ana Carrascosa Zaragoza (born 6 May 1980) is a Spanish judoka who competes in the women's 52 kg category. Carrascosa has twice been a bronze medalist at the World Judo Championships ( 2009, 2011). At European level, Carrascosa has won t ...

in a convincing fashion to take home the half-lightweight division title. When the city of Manchester hosted the Commonwealth Games two months later, Singleton delighted the English crowd with another overwhelming victory over Northern Ireland's Lisa Bradley in the same division. At the

in Athens, Singleton qualified for Team GB in the women's half-lightweight class (52 kg), by placing fifth at the World Championships in Osaka, Japan, and securing a place with her performance from the British judo trials in Wolverhampton. Singleton got off to a firm start with convincing victories over Brazil's

Fabiane Hukuda Fabiane Mayumi Hukuda (born July 12, 1981, in Registro) is a female judoka from Brazil, who twice won the bronze medal in the half lightweight division (– 52 kg) at the Pan American Games (1999 and 2003). A resident of Belo Horizonte, ...

and Venezuela's

Flor Velázquez Flor Angela Velázquez Artahona (born May 2, 1984) is a female judoka from Venezuela, who won the bronze medal in the women's half lightweight division (– 52 kg) at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. ...

in the prelims, before she conceded with a shido penalty and then succumbed to an ippon hold from Japan's

Yuki Yokosawa is a female judoka in Japan. She was born in Maebashi, Gunma. History She started judo when she was an elementary school student, influenced by her brother and father. Prizes She has won many prizes at Judo events all over the world. *Women's ...

during their quarterfinal match. In the repechage round, Singleton edged past North Korea's Ri Sang-Sim with an uchi mata makikomi (inner thigh wraparound) hold to permit herself a chance for an Olympic medal, but her rigid form was not enough to combat Belgium's Ilse Heylen in their subsequent match, relegating Singleton into the seventh position. Singleton sought her third Olympic bid in Beijing, but finished fifth at the

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 ...

, effectively missing her chance to compete for the Games due to the qualification rules.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Singleton, Georgina 1977 births Living people English female judoka Olympic judoka for Great Britain Judoka at the 2004 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Sportspeople from Ascot, Berkshire Commonwealth Games medallists in judo Universiade medalists in judo Universiade bronze medalists for Great Britain Medalists at the 1999 Summer Universiade Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games