Lisa Kearney (born 27 May 1989) is a Northern Irish retired
judoka, who competed in the −48 kg category. Kearney, who lives and trains in Belfast, competed in the
2012 Summer Olympics in London as a member of the
Ireland Olympic team.
Career
Kearney started judo at primary school in order to join her friends.
Whilst still a child in 1999, she won silver in the −27 kg category of the Northern Ireland Judo Championships. In 2009, she became the first judoka representing Ireland to reach the final of a Judo World Cup. In 2012, she recovered from injury earned qualification for the
Women's −48 kg judo at the
2012 Olympic Games in London by finishing in the top 14 in the
International Judo Federation
The International Judo Federation (IJF) was founded in July 1951. The IJF was originally composed of judo federations from Europe and Argentina. Countries from four continents were affiliated over the next ten years. Today the IJF has 200 National ...
rankings.
In doing so, she became the first female judoka representing Ireland to compete at the Olympics. However, she lost her opening match to
Wu Shegun of China.
The national Irish public broadcaster
Raidió Teilifís Éireann was criticised for not featuring her match in their television coverage. During 2013, she missed several events due to injury but got back into competing in preparation for the
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...
. In 2014, Kearney represented
Northern Ireland at the 2014 Commonwealth Games
Northern Ireland competed in the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland from July 23 to August 3, 2014.
Medalists
Athletics
;Men
;Track & road events
;Field Events
;Combined events – Athletics at the 2014 Commonwealth Games – ...
in the
Women's −52 kg category and won the bronze medal with an
armbar
An armlock in grappling is a single or double joint lock that Anatomical terms of motion#General motion, hyperextends, hyperflexes or hyperrotates the elbow, elbow joint or glenohumeral joint, shoulder joint. An armlock that hyper-extends the ...
submission of Canada's
Audrée Francis-Méthot, which was also Northern Ireland's first medal of the games.
She had aimed to compete at the
2016 Summer Olympics but suffered a knee injury which ruled her out of the Olympics as she was unable to take part in the qualification tournaments. She stepped out under the advice of the
Sports Institute for Northern Ireland who oversaw her rehabilitation. In 2017, she announced her retirement from competitive judo. Kearney had won four World Cup gold medals.
Personal life
Kearney was born on 27 May 1989 in
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...
,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
. She studied psychology as a student at
Heriot-Watt University in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
, Scotland.
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References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kearney, Lisa
1989 births
Living people
Female judoka from Northern Ireland
Judoka at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Olympic judoka of Ireland
Sportspeople from Belfast
Alumni of Heriot-Watt University
Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Northern Ireland
Commonwealth Games medallists in judo
Judoka at the 2014 Commonwealth Games
Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games