 Clark in 2014 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | British (Scottish) |
| Born | (1978-01-03)3 January 1978 (age 47) Durham, England |
| Occupation | Judoka |
| Sport | |
| Country | Great Britain |
| Sport | Judo |
| Weight class | –57 kg, –63 kg |
| Rank | 6th dan black belt[1] |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Olympic Games | 13th (2004) |
| World Champ. | R32(2005,2007,2009, 2010,2011) |
| European Champ. |  (2006) |
| Commonwealth Games |  (2014) |
Medal record | |
| Profile at external databases | |
| IJF | 106 |
| JudoInside.com | 8879 |
| Updated on 16 November 2022 | |
Sarah Clark (born 3 January 1978) is a Britishjudoka, who has competed at three Olympic Games.[2]
Clark got herShodan black belt at the young age of 15.[citation needed] Clark came to prominence when winning the Scottish Championships in 1997. In 2000 and 2001 she won back to back half-middleweight British titles at theBritish Judo Championships.[3]
In 2004, she was selected to represent Great Britain at the2004 Summer Olympics in Greece, she competed in thehalf-middleweight (-63 kg) category and reached the last 16, where she was beaten by the eventual silver medalist,Claudia Heill. She then lost toRonda Rousey in the first round of the repechage.[4] Also during 2004 she won a bronze medal at the2004 European Judo Championships, in Bucharest.[2]
Two more British titles were secured in 2005 and 2006[5] and she achieved her best result to date, which was a European gold medal at the2006 European Judo Championships, in Tampere.[2]
In 2008, she went to hersecond Olympic Games, at the 2008 Summer Olympics, she again lost to Heill, this time in the first round[6] of thewomen's 63 kg. The following year in 2009, a silver medal at the2009 European Judo Championships took her tally to a European medal of every colour. From 2008 to 2012 she secured three more British titles, bringing her total to seven.[5]
She suffered a broken arm in 2009, which required surgery. During the recovery process she intensely trained the left-handed uchimata.[citation needed]
Clark ended her Olympic career on a high note by gaining selection for her home Olympic Games in London. Dropping down a weightclass, she competed in thewomen's 57 kg category, where she lost in the first round toAutomne Pavia.[7][8][4]
In 2014, she won the gold medal in the63kg for Scotland at the2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
