Uta Kühnen
German judoka (born 1975)
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Uta Kühnen (born 9 August 1975 in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg) is a German judoka who competed in the women's half-heavyweight category.[1] She held three German senior titles in her own division, picked up a total of twenty-nine medals in her career, including a bronze from the 2000 European Judo Championships in Wrocław, Poland, and represented Germany in two editions of the Olympic Games (2000 and 2004).[2] Kuhnen also trained as a full-fledged member of the judo squad for the Berlin Sports Club under her personal coach and sensei Norbert Littkoff, who also headed the German national team.[3][4]
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Uta Kühnen | ||||||||||||||
| Nationality |  Germany | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 9 August 1975 | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 75 kg (165 lb) | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Judo | ||||||||||||||
Event | 78 kg | ||||||||||||||
| Club | SC Berlin | ||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Norbert Littkopf | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Kuhnen made her official debut at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where she competed for the German team in the women's half-heavyweight class (78 kg). She thwarted Gabon's Mélanie Engoang in a sudden-death prelim match, before falling short in her next bout to South Korea's Lee So-yeon, who threw her off the tatami with a double yuko score within four seconds.[5][6]
At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Kuhnen qualified for her second German squad again in the women's half-heavyweight class (78 kg), by placing seventh from the World Championships in Osaka, Japan.[7][8] Unlike her previous Olympics, Kuhnen received a bye in the first round, but slipped her medal chances with a shido penalty, a yuko score, and a kuchiki taoshi hold (single leg takedown) from Cuban judoka and eventual bronze medalist Yurisel Laborde during their second-round match.[9][10]
