10 years after the death of Claudia Heill

March 31, is the 10th anniversary of Claudia Heill's passing. The Austrian died at the age of 29. “Claudia was one of the most successful domestic judoka in history with Olympic silver from Athens and no less than five European Championship medals. She has shaped our sport for many years, and after her career ended she also worked as a junior coach, ”emphasizes Austrian Judo President Martin Poiger.

At her Olympic debut at the age of 22, the 1998 European Junior Champion and 2001 European Vice Champion U63kg was not among the favourites. Heill, coached by women's national coach Hubert Rohrauer since childhood, celebrated four wins (against Ronda Rousey (USA) with Yuko, Sarah Clark (GBR) with Ippon, Hong Ok Song (PRK) with Waza-ari and later 2012 Olympic Champion Urska Zolnir ( SLO) with Ippon through disqualification. Heill only had one defeat in the Olympic final against top fav Ayumi Tanimoto of Japan after 1:19 minutes.The Athens silver was only the fourth Olympic medal for Austria and the first for women.

Four years later, when she participated in the Olympic Games in Beijing for the second time, Claudia Heill, plagued by knee problems, was defeated by North Korean Won Ok-Im in the bronze match and finished fifth. In June 2009 the 8-time national champion and 2-time World Tour winner ended her active career and worked as a performance coach. Martin Poiger: “The Judo Association would have planned a lot with her. She is missing!"