German judoka (born 1973)
Raffaella Imbriani (born 24 January 1973 in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg) is a German judoka who competed in the women's half-lightweight category.[1] 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 and World Championships), and represented Germany in the 52-kg class at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Imbriani also trained for Judo Club Ettlingen and then Judo League in Brandenburg under her personal coach and sensei Wolfgang Zuckschwerdt.[2][3]
Imbriani reached the pinnacle of her sporting career at the 2001 World Judo Championships in Munich, where she picked up a silver in the 52-kg division, losing to North Korean judoka and 1996 Olympic champion Kye Sun-hui in front of her home crowd.[4][5] 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, which guaranteed her a spot on the German judo squad for her major Olympic debut.[6][7]
At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Imbriani qualified for the German squad in the women's half-lightweight class (52 kg), by placing third at the World Championships in Osaka, Japan.[6][8] Imbriani got off to a firm start with convincing victories over U.S. judoka Charlee Minkin and the host nation Greece's Maria Tselaridou 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.[9] 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 with a solid grip and a waza-ari hold forty seconds before their match ended.[10][11]
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