Neşe Şensoy Yıldız (born 10 June 1974 in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

) is a Turkish

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 extra-lightweight category. She held two Turkish senior titles in her own division, and picked up a total of twenty medals in her career, including a gold from the

2001 Mediterranean Games The XIV Mediterranean Games ( ar, ألعاب البحر الأبيض المتوسط 2001), commonly known as the 2001 Mediterranean Games, were the 14th Mediterranean Games held in Tunis, Tunisia, from 2-15 September 2001, where 2,991 athletes ( ...

Tunis, Tunisia ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

, a silver from the 2006 European Judo Championships in

Tampere, Finland Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa Regions of Finland, region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the Tampere u ...

, and a bronze from the 2003 World Judo Championships in

Osaka, Japan is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third most populous city in Ja ...

. Yildiz represented her nation

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

in two editions of the Olympic Games (2000 and 2004), where she failed to reach the quarterfinals in the 48-kg division. Throughout most of her sporting career, Yildiz trained for Ordu Judo Ihtisas Club in her native

under head coach and

sensei Sensei, Seonsaeng, Tiên sinh or Xiansheng, corresponding to Chinese characters , is an East Asian honorific term shared in Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and Chinese; it is literally translated as "person born before another" or "one who comes ...

Haldun Efemgil. Yildiz made her official debut at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, where she competed in the women's extra-lightweight class (48 kg). She received a bye in the first round, but succumbed her opening match to Ukraine's Lyudmyla Lusnikova upon the judges' irrevocable decision. In 2001, Yildiz reached the pinnacle of her judo career at the

Mediterranean Games The Mediterranean Games is a multi-sport event organised by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM). It is held every four years among athletes from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea in Africa, Asia and Europe. The fir ...

, where she became the first female Turkish judoka to capture the gold medal in her sport upon pinning Italy's

Giuseppina Macrì Giuseppina Macrì (born 3 September 1974 in Crotone) is an Italian judoka, who competed in the women's extra-lightweight category. She held five Italian senior titles in her own division, picked up a total of twenty-five medals in her career, i ...

in the final match 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 ...

score. Two years later, Yildiz shared bronze medals with Cuba's Danieska Carrión in the same division at the 2003 World Judo Championships in

to guarantee her spot on the Turkish team for her second Olympic stint. 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), ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Yildiz qualified as a lone female judoka for her second Turkish squad in the women's extra-lightweight class (48 kg), by placing third and receiving a berth from the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

. Yildiz opened her fight with a more convincing victory by a

waza-ari is the second highest score a fighter can achieve in a Japanese martial arts ''ippon'' or ''waza-ari'' contest, usually judo, karate or jujutsu. ''Waza-ari'' in judo A ''waza-ari'' is the second highest score a fighter can achieve in judo, the ...

score over North Korea's Ri Kyong-ok, before she fell shortly in her next match to South Korea's Ye Gue-rin with a double shido deduction and a non-combative penalty. Shortly after her second Olympic stint, Yildiz redeemed her strength to pick up two more bronze medals in her career hardware at the

2005 Mediterranean Games The XVth Mediterranean Games Almería 2005 (XV Juegos del Mediterráneo 2005 in Spanish), commonly known as the 2005 Mediterranean Games, were the 15th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Almería, Spain over 10 days, from 24 June to 3 Ju ...

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city gr ...

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 ...

, and later at the 2005 European Judo Championships in

Rotterdam, Netherlands Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

. The following year, Yildiz capped off her judo career with a silver medal in the 48-kg division at the

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, ...

, losing the final match to Romanian judoka and reigning champion

Alina Dumitru Alina Dumitru (; born 30 August 1982) is a Romanian judoka, one-time Olympic champion and eight-time European champion. At the 2008 Summer Olympics she defeated Japanese double gold medallist Ryoko Tani, who until then had been undefeated in ma ...

References

External links

* * 1974 births Living people Turkish female judoka Olympic judoka of Turkey Judoka at the 2000 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Istanbul Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Turkey Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Turkey Competitors at the 2001 Mediterranean Games Competitors at the 2005 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in judo {{Turkey-judo-bio-stub