British Sarah Clark wins judo silver in Paris

Edinburgh based Judo player Sarah Clark clinched a silver medal at the prestigious Tournoi de Paris at the weekend. The result was the first major international medal for Sarah (26), who trains with Judo Scotland, and it could not have come at a better time. Renowned for being one of the toughest tournaments in the world, the Olympic qualification event has earned her valuable points towards securing a place for Athens.

Clark will now attend further European qualification events in the attempt to qualify the –63kg place for Great Britain.

Tough qualification rules mean that the British players must qualify Olympic places through Europe (top nine for men and top five for women). Three players including British number one Karen Roberts are also competing in Europe in the attempt to qualify the category.

Sarah, who won Commonwealth silver medal for Scotland in Manchester and is currently ranked British number two, beat Anna Alexandrovna (Russia), Emannuel Payet (France), Africa Gutierrez (Spain) Marie Pasquet (France) in the early rounds. She faced French judo star Lucie Decosse in the final who had the support of the very vocal French crowd packed into the sold out 15,000 seater Paris Bercy Stadium. In a closely fought match, Decosse eventually took the gold on points after the full five minutes.

Other results for Great Britain came from Georgina Singleton who won the bronze medal in the –52kg weight category. London’s Winston Gordon and Peter Cousins both managed fifth places in the Men’s –90kg weight category. David Somerville from Edinburgh finished 7th in the –66kg.