Mathews Punza (born 27 April 1988) is a

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

judo 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 ...

ka. He participated in the

2010 World Judo Championships The 2010 World Judo Championships were held at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan from 9 to 13 September. Schedule Medal summary Men's events Women's events Medal table References External links

* * {{Aut ...

and later championships. Punza began studying judo at the age of six,Wakung'uma, Shapa.
Zambia: Looking At Judo in Police Service
', The Times of Zambia (via AllAfrica.com), August 22, 2015. attending classes at Lilayi Police College. As an adult, he became an officer in the police service. In 2015, Punza and fellow Zambian judoka Boas Munyonga traveled to

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

to study judo, under a scholarship program from the

International Judo Federation The International Judo Federation (IJF) is the international governing body for judo, founded in July 1951. Today the IJF has 200 National Federations on all continents. There are over 20 million people around the globe who practice judo, accordi ...

. Punza and Munyoga were unable to compete in the 2016 European Open Championship, as a result of visa difficulties with the government of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. In spite of this, Punza was able to qualify to compete in the Olympics by scoring enough points in competition to meet the continental qualification quota. Punza competed at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, where he was Zambia's flag bearer during the opening ceremony. In the men's 66 kg class, he defeated

Golan Pollack Golan Pollack (; born 10 September 1991 in Yehud, Israel, Yehud, Israel) is an Israeli Olympic judoka. who competed in the half lightweight (under 66 kg) weight category. Pollack won a bronze medal in the 2015 World Judo Championships – ...

of Israel in the second round, but lost to Adrian Gomboč of Slovenia in the third round.

References

External links

* 1988 births Living people Zambian male judoka Olympic judoka for Zambia Judoka at the 2016 Summer Olympics {{Zambia-judo-bio-stub