Leire Iglesias Armiño (born 7 April 1978 in

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

, Vizcaya) is a Spanish

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 played for the middleweight category. She is a five-time World Cup champion, and a silver medalist 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 ...

Lisbon, Portugal 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. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

. She also won two bronze medals for the same division at the

1999 Summer Universiade The 1999 Summer Universiade, also known as the XX Summer Universiade, took place in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Venues * Estadi Son Moix — athletics, football, ceremonies * Arena Son Moix — volleyball * Pavelló Son Hugo — swimming, diving, ...

Palma de Mallorca Palma (; ; also known as ''Palma de Mallorca'', officially between 1983–88, 2006–08, and 2012–16) is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is situate ...

, and at the

2003 Summer Universiade The 2003 Summer Universiade, also known as the XXII Summer Universiade, took place in Daegu, South Korea. Emblem * The alphabet letter "U" and five stars, which is FISU's emblem, make up the basis of the emblem for the Daegu Universiade. * It sym ...

Jeju City Jeju City ( ko, 제주시, Jeju-si; ) is the capital of the Jeju Province in South Korea and the largest city on Jeju Island. The city is served by Jeju International Airport ( IATA code CJU). Located on an island off the Korean Peninsula, Jeju ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. Iglesias represented

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, where she competed for the women's middleweight class (70 kg). In the preliminaries, she first defeated Brazil's

Mayra Aguiar Mayra Aguiar da Silva (born August 3 1991) is a Brazilian judoka. She was a bronze medallist in three consecutive Olympics, 2012, 2016 and 2020. She is also three-time world champion (2014, 2017, 2022). She is the first Brazilian woman to win th ...

, and eventually upset world champion Gévrise Émane, who was considered a top medal contender in this event. She reached only into the quarterfinal round, where she lost by an automatic

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 ...

to German judoka and Olympic bronze medalist Annett Böhm. Because her opponent advanced further into the semi-finals, Iglesias offered another shot for the bronze medal by defeating Ukraine's

Nataliya Smal Nataliya Nikolayevna Smal ( ukr, Наталія Николаевна Смаль; born 10 March 1983 in Koriukivka Raion, Ukraine) is a Ukrainian judoka and sambist. She competed in the 70 kg event at the 2008 Summer Olympics, where she lost in ...

and Colombia's Yuri Alvear in the repechage rounds. Unfortunately, she finished only in fifth place, after losing out the bronze medal match to Dutch judoka and former silver medalist

Edith Bosch Edith Bosch (born 31 May 1980) is a Dutch judoka. Her Olympic debut was at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney where she finished seventh. She won the silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in the middleweight division. She was also European champion ...

, who successfully scored an ippon at three minutes and fourteen seconds.

References

External links

* *
NBC Olympics Profile
Spanish female judoka Living people Olympic judoka of Spain Judoka at the 2008 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Bilbao 1978 births Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Spain Competitors at the 2009 Mediterranean Games Universiade medalists in judo Mediterranean Games medalists in judo Universiade bronze medalists for Spain Medalists at the 1999 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2003 Summer Universiade 21st-century Spanish women {{Spain-judo-bio-stub