Raffaella Imbriani (born 24 January 1973 in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

) is a German

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. She held five German senior titles in her own division, picked up a total of thirty-five medals in her career, including four from major international tournaments (

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

and

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, ...

), and represented

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

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), ...

. Imbriani also trained for Judo Club Ettlingen and then Judo League in

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...

under her personal 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 c ...

Wolfgang Zuckschwerdt. Imbriani reached the pinnacle of her sporting career at the

2001 World Judo Championships The 2001 World Judo Championships were the 22nd edition of the World Judo Championships, and were held at Olympiahalle in Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of B ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, where she picked up a silver in the 52-kg division, losing shamefully to North Korean judoka and 1996 Olympic champion Kye Sun-hui in front of her home crowd. Two years later, she shared bronze medals with Japan's Yuki Yokosawa in the same division at 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 ...

, which guaranteed her a spot on the German judo squad for her major Olympic debut. At the

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 ...

, Imbriani qualified for the German squad in the women's half-lightweight class (52 kg), by placing third from the

. Imbriani got off to a firm start with convincing victories over U.S. judoka

Charlee Minkin Charlee Minkin (born November 13, 1981) is an American Olympic judoka. She won three national titles (2000, 2002, and 2004), and won the silver medal in the women's half lightweight division (–52 kg) at the 2003 Pan American ...

and the host nation Greece's

Maria Tselaridou Maria Tselaridou ( gr, Μαρία Τσελαρίδου; born 26 March 1981 in Alma-Ata, Kazakh SSR) is a Greek judoka, who competed in the women's half-lightweight category. Holding a dual citizenship to compete internationally, Tselaridou picked ...

in the prelims, before she succumbed to a waza-ari awasete ippon hold from China's Xian Dongmei with only forty-five seconds in the time limit during their quarterfinal match. Imbriani gave herself a chance for an Olympic bronze medal in the repechage round, but fell short to Algeria's Salima Souakri, who threw her off the

tatami A is a type of mat used as a flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. Tatamis are made in standard sizes, twice as long as wide, about 0.9 m by 1.8 m depending on the region. In martial arts, tatami are the floor used for traini ...

with a solid grip and 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 ...

hold forty seconds before their match ended.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Imbriani, Raffaella 1973 births Living people German female judoka Olympic judoka of Germany Judoka at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Karlsruhe 20th-century German women 21st-century German women