Personal information | |
---|---|
Born | September 8, 1945 |
Home town | Brooklyn, New York, USA |
Occupation | Judoka |
Sport | |
Country | United States |
Sport | Women's Judo |
Weight class | 78kg or less |
Coached by | Kiyoshi Shiina |
Profile at external databases | |
JudoInside.com | 36526 |
Updated on 17 June 2022 |
Maureen Braziel was one of the pioneers of Women's Judo competition. [1] She has been thought of as being one of the top Judoka in the United States, [2] and within the 1970s. [3]
She won the silver medal heavyweight in the 1971 British Open, and bronze in the open division. [4] She was the first female to place in international competition in Judo. [4] As a result, helped to make women's Judo a sport under the Amateur Athletic Union. [1] Maureen was the women's US National 1st-place winner for the heavyweight division and the grand champion for the years 1974, 1975, and 1976. [5]
At a competition weight of 180 lbs, Maureen was strong enough to compete with men. [6] She defeated Diane Pierce in 1974 for the national championship. [6] Diane Pierce would later appear on the show To Tell The Truth claiming to be the 1974 National Judo Champion. [6] Maureen won the gold medal in the 1975 Judo International championship for the heavyweight division in Switzerland. [4] She was the undisputed US Heavyweight Champion on the East Coast from 1967 to 1977. [7] In 1976 she was part of the US Women's National Team under her friend [8] and team coach Rusty Kanokogi [4] She placed second in 1977, 1979 and 1980 for the Women's US Nationals [9] She was the Amateur Athletic Union Most Outstanding Player Award in 1974 [1]
In 2021, she was inducted into the United States Judo Federation's Hall of Fame [10]
Following competition she founded the PolyTech Judo Club. [7] She served as the head coach for the Poly Tech Judo Club. [11] She would later serve as athletic director at Poly Tech. [12] Even later she would serve as the athletic director for NYU-Poly. [13] She would later retire after 30 years at NYU. [13] She served as the secretary for NYS Judo (circa 2009). [14]
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)