Jessica Malone (born 27 November 1986 in

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle, also commonly referred to as Greater Newcastle ( ; ), is a large Metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the second-most-populous such area of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the cities of City of Newcastle, Newcastle and Ci ...

) is an Australian

judoka is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

, who competed in the women's heavyweight category. She held five Australian titles in her own division, picked up dozens medals in her career, including a single gold in her division from the 2004 Oceania Championships in

Nouméa Nouméa () is the capital and largest city of the French Sui generis collectivity, special collectivity of New Caledonia and is also the largest Francophone city in Oceania. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main i ...

, New Caledonia, and represented her nation Australia, as a 17-year-old teen, at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

. Malone also trained throughout her sporting career for Budokan Judo Club in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. Malone qualified for the Australian squad, as a 17-year-old teen, in the women's heavyweight class (+78 kg) at the

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, by topping the field of judoka and receiving a berth from the Oceania Championships in

, New Caledonia. Suffering a shoulder injury only 10 days out from competition, she lost her opening match to Japanese judoka and eventual Olympic champion

Maki Tsukada (born 5 January 1982) is a Japanese judoka, who was born in Shimotsuma, Ibaraki, Shimotsuma, Ibaraki Prefecture. She won the Women's +78 kg category gold medal at the Judo at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Women's +78 kg, Athens Olympics in ...

, who quickly pinned and subdued her on the

tatami are soft mats used as flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. They are made in standard sizes, twice as long as wide, about , depending on the region. In martial arts, tatami are used for training in a dojo and for competition. ...

with a kosoto gake (small outer hook) at an immediate span of twenty-six seconds. In the repechage, Malone gave herself an Olympic medal chance, but fell short in a fast-pacing,

ippon is the highest score a fighter can achieve in a Japanese martial arts ''ippon-wazari'' contest, usually kendo, judo, karate or jujitsu. In judo In judo, an ''ippon'' may be scored for a throw, a pin, a choke or a jointlock. For throws, the ...

defeat with a similar approach from her previous match to Ukraine's Maryna Prokofyeva six seconds into their bout. Jessica now coaches a local club in her home town of Newcastle at a local PCYC.

References

External links

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Australian Olympic Team Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malone, Jessica 1986 births Living people Australian female judoka Olympic judoka for Australia Judoka at the 2004 Summer Olympics Sportswomen from New South Wales Sportspeople from Newcastle, New South Wales 20th-century Australian women 21st-century Australian sportswomen