Deborah Gravenstijn

Deborah Grave Stijn ( born August 20, 1974 in Tholen ) is a Dutch judoka. She is five times Dutch champion and two -time Olympic medalist.

Career

Grave Stijn began at the age of five years with judo. Her international breakthrough came she mastered in 1992 by winning the European Junior Championships in the class up to 61 kg. Six years later she won in the Netherlands for the first time a national title. Even outside the national boundaries, they continued her career successfully. Between 1998 and 2002 she stood at the Judo European Championships five times in a row on the podium, winning a silver medal and four bronze medals. In 2001, she was in Munich vice world champion in the class up to 57 kg.

Her debut at the Olympics, she gave in 2000 in Sydney, where she was in the weight class up to 52 kg in five. Four years later, at the Athens Games she won the bronze medal in the category up to 57 kg, but had to cancel the next year because of an injury to participate in the World Championships.

2008 took Grave Stijn for the third time in the Olympic Games and won in the class up to 57 kg after final defeat by the Italierin Giulia Quintavalle the silver medal.

Grave Stijn belongs to the Dutch air forces and serves at the rank of first lieutenant.