Lisa Kearney
Northern Irish judoka
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Lisa Kearney (born 27 May 1989) is a Northern Irish retired judoka, who competed in the −48 kg category.[1] Kearney, who lives and trains in Belfast, competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London as a member of the Ireland Olympic team.[2][3]
Kearney interviewed in 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | Northern Irish | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 27 May 1989 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Judoka | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.57 m (5 ft 2 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Ireland | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Judo | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight class | –48 kg, –52 kg | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Yamakwai Judo Club, Belfast | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Ciaran Ward | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Olympic Games | R16 (2012) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Champ. | R16 (2011) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| European Champ. | R16
(2010, 2012, 2013, 2014) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commonwealth Games |  (2014) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| Profile at external databases | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| IJF | 993 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| JudoInside.com | 30139 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Updated on 16 December 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career
Kearney started judo at primary school in order to join her friends.[4] Whilst still a child in 1999, she won silver in the −27 kg category of the Northern Ireland Judo Championships.[5] In 2009, she became the first judoka representing Ireland to reach the final of a Judo World Cup.[6] In 2012, she recovered from injury earned qualification for the Women's −48 kg judo at the 2012 Olympic Games in London by finishing in the top 14 in the International Judo Federation rankings.[4][7] In doing so, she became the first female judoka representing Ireland to compete at the Olympics. However, she lost her opening match to Wu Shegun of China.[8] The national Irish public broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann was criticised for not featuring her match in their television coverage.[9] During 2013, she missed several events due to injury but got back into competing in preparation for the Commonwealth Games.[10] In 2014, Kearney represented Northern Ireland at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the Women's −52 kg category and won the bronze medal with an armbar submission of Canada's Audrée Francis-Méthot, which was also Northern Ireland's first medal of the games.[11]
She had aimed to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics but suffered a knee injury which ruled her out of the Olympics as she was unable to take part in the qualification tournaments.[12] She stepped out under the advice of the Sports Institute for Northern Ireland who oversaw her rehabilitation.[13] In 2017, she announced her retirement from competitive judo.[14] Kearney had won four World Cup gold medals.[15]
Personal life
Kearney was born on 27 May 1989 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. She studied psychology as a student at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland.[2]
