Oak Harbor’s Malloy wins Olympic bronze in judo

Marti Malloy isn’t just Oak Harbor’s first Olympic athlete, she is also Oak Harbor’s first medalist.

The 2004 Oak Harbor High School graduate earned a bronze medal in judo in London by winning four of five bouts today, July 30.

It was the United States' 11th medal ever in the sport and the second by a female.

Malloy, who entered the Olympics ranked 10th in the world in the 57 kg (125 pound) class, defeated Italy’s eighth-ranked Guilia Quintavalle for the bronze medal.

Just over two minutes into the match, Malloy was penalized for non-cabativity. Thirty seconds later she won, scoring an Ippon (a throw that results in one point and a win) from a Ko-uchi-gari at 2:34 of the five-minute match.

Malloy started her Olympic competition by upsetting Portugal’s Telma Monteiro in the round of 32. Monteiro entered the match ranked second in the world and was the Sports Illustrated favorite to capture the silver medal.

Malloy scored a Yuko (a throw worth a quarter point) with a Sumi-gaeshi at 2:19 for the match’s only scoring.

In her next match, Malloy won 40 seconds into the bout by stopping Columbia’s Yadinys Amaris with a Seoi-nage.

In the quarter finals, Malloy came back to defeat 16th-ranked Irina Zabludina of Russsia. At the 2:02 mark, Malloy was penalized (defensive posture) but then bounced back to score a Yuko (Ko-uchi-gari) at 2:47 and then Zabludina was penalized twice (defensive posture and hold-same-side) in the fourth minute as Malloy moved on to the semifinals.

In the battle to reach the gold-medal bout, Russia’s fourth-ranked Corina Caprioriu stopped Malloy with just seven seconds left. Each was penalized for defensive-posture 30 seconds into the match, then neither scored until Caprioriu recorded a Ippon with a Ura-nage at 4:53.

 

Contact Whidbey News Times Sports editor Jim Waller at jwaller@whidbeynewsgroup.com or 360-675-6611 ext. 5060.

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