Maria Pekli

Maria Pekli

Personal information
Born	12 June 1972 (1972-06-12) (age 52) Baja, Hungary
Medal record Women's judo Representing Australia Olympic Games 2000 Sydney 57 kg Commonwealth Games 2002 Manchester 57 kg Representing Hungary European Championships 1996 The Hague 57 kg

Maria Pekli (born 12 June 1972 in Baja, Hungary) is an Australian judoka of Hungarian descent. She was Australian Champion in the u/57 kg division for seven consecutive years, between 1997–2003.

She won a bronze medal in the lightweight (57 kg) division at the 2000 Summer Olympics, the first Australian woman to win an official Olympic Judo medal (although Sue Williams won a medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics when Women's Judo was a demonstration sport).

Along with Cuba's Driulys González and Japan's Ryoko Tamura-Tani, Pekli became in 2008 the first female judoka to compete at five Olympics. The only other judokas to compete at five Olympics are Belgian Robert Van de Walle and Puerto Rican judoka-bobsledder Jorge Bonnet.

In 2011, Pekli was awarded Life Membership of Judo Australia for her contribution to the sport at the Australian National Judo Championships.

Achievements

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Notes
2008	Olympic Games	Beijing, China	5th	Lightweight (57 kg)
2003	World Judo Championships	Osaka, Japan	5th	Lightweight (57 kg)
2002	Commonwealth Games	Manchester, England	1st	Lightweight (57 kg)
2000	Olympic Games	Sydney	3rd	Lightweight (57 kg)
1996	European Judo Championships	The Hague, Netherlands	2nd	Lightweight (56 kg)
1995	European Judo Championships	Birmingham, England	7th	Lightweight (56 kg)
1993	World Judo Championships	Hamilton, Ontario, Canada	5th	Lightweight (56 kg)

References

• Maria Pekli at JudoInside.com
• Maria Pekli at databaseOlympics.com (archived)
• "Maria Pekli: Aiming high". ABC. 28 July 2004. Retrieved 11 July 2007.

External links

• Videos of Maria Pekli (judovision.org)