Samantha Lowe (born 20 January 1982) is an English

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, 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 Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

ka who won a gold medal in the women's under 70 kg event at the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

Career

Lowe studied

sports science Sports science is a discipline that studies how the healthy human body works during exercise, and how sport and physical activity promote health and performance from cellular to whole body perspectives. The study of sports science traditionally inc ...

, and trained at the

Camberley Camberley is a town in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England, approximately south-west of Central London. The town is in the far west of the county, close to the borders of Hampshire and Berkshire. Once part of Windsor Forest, Cambe ...

Judo Club in Surrey. In 1998, Lowe won the British Junior Championships under 63 kg event. In 1999, Lowe won a bronze medal at the European under-23 championships in Rome. At the 2002 British Open Championships, Lowe beat fellow English athlete

Kate Howey Kate Louise Howey (born 31 May 1973 in Andover, Hampshire, England) is a former elite British judoka. She remains the only British woman to have won two Olympic judo medals (silver at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, and bronze at the 1992 Olympi ...

, after Howey broke her wrist in a fall. Both Lowe and Howey claimed that they were winning the fight at the time of the injury. At the age of 20, Lowe was chosen ahead of Howey to represent England in the under 70 kg (middleweight) event at the

. Howey appealed against the decision, arguing that she was winning the Open Championship fight before her injury. The Sport Dispute Panel ruled in Howey's favour, and Howey was then selected instead of Lowe. Lowe counterappealed, and was eventually awarded the spot. Lowe maintained that she deserved the spot, as she had better form that season. At the Commonwealth Games, Lowe won a match against Northern Ireland's Claire Rainey in ten seconds. She later beat her Scottish rival

Amanda Costello Amanda is a Latin feminine gerundive (i.e. verbal adjective) name meaning, literally, “she who must (or is fit to) be loved”. Other translations, with similar meaning, could be "deserving to be loved," "worthy of love," or "loved very much b ...

in the semi-finals, before beating Canada's

Catherine Roberge Catherine Roberge (born 8 February 1982, in Charlesbourg, Quebec) is a judoka from Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northw ...

to win the gold medal. Later in the year, she came 7th in the under 70 kg event at the

2002 European Judo Championships The 2002 European Judo Championships were the 13th edition of the European Judo Championships, and were held in Maribor, Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country i ...

. Later in 2002, Lowe sustained an

anterior cruciate ligament injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during inju ...

, which required surgery. In 2003, she came second at the Sweden Open event, losing to Canada's Marie-Hélène Chisholm. Lowe was forced to withdraw from the 2003 national championships after reinjuring her leg. In 2004, Lowe passed out during her semi-final match in the European under-23 championships. She was allowed to compete in the bronze medal match, which she won. The laws had recently been changed; beforehand, she would not have been allowed to compete in the bronze medal match on health grounds. In 2007, Lowe won the under 78 kg event at the

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

Judo Championships. In 2009, Lowe came second in the under 78 kg event at the Finnish Open Championships, losing the final to France's

Céline Lebrun Céline Lebrun (born 25 August 1976 in Paris) is a French judoka born in Paris, France. She has competed in judo at both national and international level. She won gold medals in five European Judo Championships, European Championships (1999 Eu ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lowe, Samantha English female judoka 1982 births Living people Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Judoka at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games medallists in judo Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games