Lisa Kearney

Lisa Kearney (born 27 May 1989) is a Northern Irish retired judoka, who competed in the −48 kg category.[1] Kearney, who lives and trains in Belfast, competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London as a member of the Ireland Olympic team.[2]

Lisa Kearney
Kearney interviewed in 2012
Personal information
NationalityNorthern Irish
Born (1989-05-27) 27 May 1989
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Height1.57 m (5 ft 2 in)
Weight48 kg (106 lb)
Sport
CountryIreland
SportJudo
Event(s)−48 kg
ClubYamakwai Judo Club, Belfast
Coached byCiaran Ward
Retiredyes

Career

Kearney started judo at primary school in order to join her friends.[3] Whilst still a child in 1999, she won silver in the −27 kg category of the Northern Ireland Judo Championships.[4] In 2009, she became the first judoka representing Ireland to reach the final of a Judo World Cup.[5] In 2012, she recovered from injury earned qualification for the Women's −48 kg judo at the 2012 Olympic Games in London by finishing in the top 14 in the International Judo Federation rankings.[3][6] In doing so, she became the first female judoka representing Ireland to compete at the Olympics. However, she lost her opening match to Wu Shegun of China.[7] The national Irish public broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann was criticised for not featuring her match in their television coverage.[8] During 2013, she missed several events due to injury but got back into competing in preparation for the Commonwealth Games.[9] In 2014, Kearney represented Northern Ireland at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the Women's −52 kg category and won the bronze medal with an armbar submission of Canada's Audrée Francis-Méthot, which was also Northern Ireland's first medal of the games.[10]

She had aimed to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics but suffered a knee injury which ruled her out of the Olympics as she was unable to take part in the qualification tournaments.[11] She stepped out under the advice of the Sports Institute for Northern Ireland who oversaw her rehabilitation.[12] In 2017, she announced her retirement from competitive judo.[13] Kearney had won four World Cup gold medals.[14]

Personal life

Kearney was born on 27 May 1989 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. She studied psychology as a student at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland.[2]

References

  1. "Lisa Kearney (IRL)". Judo Inside. Archived from the original on 26 October 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  2. "Lisa Kearney - Judo - Olympic Athlete". LOCOG. Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  3. Padraig Coyle (16 July 2012). "Judo Expert Lisa Kearney Dreams of Olympic Gold". Culture Northern Ireland. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  4. The Irish News Archive (13 May 1999). "Back in the day - GAA star John Donaldson returns to Armagh senior panel9". The Irish News. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  5. Olympics (23 September 2009). "Kearney claims silver in Judo World Cup". RTE. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  6. Tony Cuddihy (7 July 2012). "London 2012: Introducing... Lisa Kearney". The42.ie. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  7. Gregg, Nikki. "Olympic aftermath - Lisa Kearney on London 2012". BBC News. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  8. __Authorname__ (28 July 2012). "London 2012: Day One". Irish Times. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  9. "Judo player Lisa Kearney targeting medal at Commonwealth Games". BBC Sport. 27 November 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  10. "Glasgow 2014: Lisa Kearney wins Northern Ireland's first medal". BBC Sport. 24 July 2014. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  11. Farrell, Sean (16 April 2015). "Heartbreak for Lisa Kearney as injury brings premature end to Olympic dream". The42.ie. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  12. "Lisa Kearney out of Rio 2016 Games after suffering knee injury". BBC Sport. 17 April 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  13. "Mixed emotions for our Kearney as she calls time on judo career". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  14. "Lisa Kearney". RTE. 17 July 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
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