Marie Branser (born 15 August 1992 in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

) is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

-born

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

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 formerly also represented the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

at the Olympics. She is a three-time

African Judo Championships African Judo Championships is a continental judo championship organized by the African Judo Union. The 1965, 1987, 1991, 1995, 1999 and 2007 editions were held during the respective African Games The African Games, formally known as the All ...

gold medalist. In 2021, she competed in the women's 78 kg event at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

in Tokyo, Japan.

Career

Germany

Branser won one silver and three bronze medals at the German National Judo Championships, but she never represented Germany on the senior major international tournament.

DR Congo

In 2019, she changed her nationality to Congolese to try to qualify for the

2020 Summer Olympic Games The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

. She still lives and trains in

but represents

in international competitions. In 2020, she won the gold medal in the women's 78 kg event at the

2020 African Judo Championships The 2020 African Judo Championships took place in Antananarivo, Madagascar, from 17 to 20 December 2020. The championships were originally scheduled to be held in Casablanca from 16 to 19 April, then in Rabat from 28 to 30 November, but were post ...

held in Antananarivo, Madagascar. In May 2021, she retained her championship title after winning the women's 78 kg event at the 2021 African Judo Championships held in Dakar, Senegal.

Guinea

In 2022, Branser decided to change nationality to Guinea, citing inactivity and negligence of the Congolese Judo Federation since the Olympics. Following the switch, she went on to win the 2022 African Open at Dakar in her first outing for Guinea.

Achievements

References

External links

* * * Living people 1992 births Sportspeople from Leipzig German female judoka Democratic Republic of the Congo female judoka Guinean female judoka Judoka at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic judoka for the Democratic Republic of the Congo People with acquired Democratic Republic of the Congo citizenship People with acquired Guinean citizenship Democratic Republic of the Congo people of German descent Guinean people of German descent {{Germany-judo-bio-stub