Noriko Naradzaki ( Japanese 楢 崎 教 子 , nee Sugawara ( Japanese 菅原 ); September 27, 1972 , Yamato ) - Japanese judoka of light and semi-light weight categories, played for the Japanese team in the second half of the 1990s. The bronze medalist of the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, the silver medalist of the Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, the world champion, the winner of the silver medal of the Asian Games, the winner of many tournaments of national and international significance.
| Noriko Narazaki | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| general information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Citizenship |  Japan | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of Birth | September 27, 1972 (aged 46) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of Birth | Yamato , Japan | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Growth | 157 cm | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight category | lightweight (up to 52 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Biography
Noriko Sugawara was born on September 27, 1972 in the city of Yamato , Kanagawa Prefecture . She began to actively engage in judo from early childhood, and later continued training while studying at the University of Tsukuba in Tsukuba .
The first serious success at the adult international level was achieved in 1994, when she got into the main team of the Japanese national team and attended the home Asian Games in Hiroshima, from where she brought the silver dignity award won in the light weight category - she was defeated by Korean Chung Song in the decisive match Yong . Thanks to a series of successful appearances, she won the right to defend the country's honor at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta - she prevailed over the first three contenders in the featherweight division, but already at the quarter-finals stage she lost to Cuba 's representative Legna Veredesia , the current champion of the Pan American Games. In consolation fights for the third place, she defeated two opponents and thereby won a bronze Olympic medal.
After the Olympics in the USA, Sugawara remained in the main part of the judo team of Japan and continued to take part in major international tournaments. So, in 1999, she performed at the World Championships in Birmingham, England, where she defeated all rivals in the lightweight division, including taking revenge on the Veredia Cuba in the final, and thus became the world judo champion. Being among the leaders of the Japanese national team, she successfully qualified for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney - at the time of participation in the Games she had already married and acted under the name of her husband Narazaki. This time, she won the first four matches of the featherweight category, in particular, she defeated the strong Chinese woman Liu Yuxiang in the semifinals, but in the decisive match she again met her longtime rival Legion Veredia and lost to her again, eventually receiving a silver Olympic medal. Soon after the end of these competitions, she decided to end the career of a professional athlete, losing her place in the national team to young Japanese judokas.
Subsequently, she worked as a teacher at the private University of Bunkyo, where she got a job in April 2001 [1] .
Notes
- ↑ 柔道 で 五 輪 連 続 メ ダ ル 楢 崎 さ ん 福 教 大 講師 に. - 西 日本 新聞, April 11, 2010.
Links
- Noriko Narazaki - Olympic statistics at Sports-Reference.com
- Noriko Narazaki - profile on judoinside.com