Sandra Sánchez

Sandra-san
Sandra Sánchez (2018)
Full name	Sandra Sánchez Jaime
nation	Spain
date of birth	September 16, 1981
place of birth	Talavera de la Reina , Spain
weight	48 kg
Career
graduation	5th Dan  -
society	Centro de Alto Rendimiento, Madrid
Trainer	Jesús de Moral
status	active

Sandra Sánchez Jaime (born September 16, 1981 in Talavera de la Reina ) is a Spanish karateka . In the kata she was recognized as the best female karateka of all time. She won the 2018 World Cup in that category and the gold medal at the Olympics in 2021 .

Life

Sandra Sánchez grew up in a financially modest situation. Her father was a gardener by trade. At the age of four, her father enrolled her in dance school. Since she liked the karate sport practiced by her older brother better, her parents also allowed her to practice this sport.

She studied sports science at the Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha . Then her mother got cancer . She was so busy with the care that she could no longer find the time for her training at the elite sports school Centro de Alto Rendimiento (CAR). After graduating, she lived in Australia for almost a year. There, too, she constantly trained karate. When she was 33 years old, it was said that she was too old to be successful at the highest level in the kata.

She lived and trained in Dubai for two years . In 2015, she became the first Spanish woman to achieve first place in the world ranking of women in the kata. With this achievement, she was accepted into the Spanish elite selection and into the CAR, which until then was considered “not good enough”.

Sandra Sánchez during the Karate1 Premier League Berlin 2018

In 2018 she won the karate world championship against her strongest competitor, the Japanese Kiyou Shimizu .

At the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo , the sport of karate was part of the Olympic competitions for the first time. In the final fight, Sandra Sánchez defeated her Japanese competitor Kiyou Shimizu with 28.06 to 27.88 points and won the Olympic gold medal. During the closing ceremony , she was the flag bearer of her nation.

Sandra Sánchez has been married to her long-time coach Jesús de Moral since August 2016.

Sporting successes (selection)

National competitions

competition	year	rank
Spanish University Championships	2001
Spanish University Championships	2004
Spanish University Championships	2005
Spanish University Championships	2007
Spanish championships	2015
Spanish championships	2016
Spanish University Championships	2017
Spanish championships	2017
Spanish championships	2018
Spanish championships	2019
Spanish championships	2020

International competitions

competition	year	rank
International university championships	2004
International university championships	2005
International university championships	2007
European University Championships	2011
Latin American Championships in Managua	2015
European sports competition in Baku	2015
European Championship	2015
European Championship	2016
World Championship	2016
European Championship	2017
World Championship	2018
European Championship	2019
Olympic games	2021

Awards (selection)

• 2015 Medal of Merit from the Spanish Olympic Committee.
• 2017 Medal of Merit for Sport of Castile-La Mancha .
• 2017 Prize of the City of Talavera de la Reina.
• 2017 Spanish National Sports Prize.
• 2018 Spanish Sports Press Prize.
• 2018 Castile-La Mancha gold medal.
• 2018 Award as the best karateka of all time in kata by the World Karate Federation .
• 2018 Hija Predilecta of the city of Talavera de la Reina.
• 2018 annual award from the Spanish Olympic Committee.
• 2019 EFE Award for Sportswoman of the Year (together with Rafael Nadal ).
• 2020 entry in the Guinness Book of Records with the most medals won in the highest karate league (35 by then, 36 by March 2021).

Web links

Commons : Sandra Sanchez  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Sandra-san. Soy karateka. In: Sandra Sánchez's website. Retrieved August 5, 2021 (Spanish). 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Sandra Sánchez, mejor karateca de la historia en kata. In: Polideportivo. March 1, 2018, accessed August 5, 2021 (Spanish). 
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} Eleonora Giovio: Sandra Sánchez, la 'pequeñina' del kárate ya es la más grande. In: El País . August 5, 2021, accessed August 5, 2021 (Spanish). 
3. ↑ Juanma Mallo: Sandra Sánchez: una karateca por envidia y casualidad. In: ABC . August 5, 2021, accessed August 6, 2021 (Spanish). 
4. ↑ ^{a b} Begoña Donat (interviewer), Sandra Sánchez: Kárate y superación con Sandra Sánchez. In: XLSemanal. November 23, 2016, accessed August 6, 2021 (Spanish). 
5. ↑ ^{a b} Who is Sandra Sanchez? The queen of kata who went from 'too old' to GOAT In: olympics.com. March 30, 2019, accessed August 6, 2021 . 
6. ^ ^{A b} Alfredo Varona: Sandra Sánchez, la karateca en paro que emigró a Dubai. In: Public. August 14, 2015, accessed August 6, 2021 (Spanish). 
7. ↑ Sandra Sánchez, campeona de la Liga Mundial de karate. In: Polideportivo. October 2, 2016, accessed August 6, 2021 (Spanish). 
8. ↑ Sergio Valentín: ¿Imposible cumplir tus sueños? Que le pregunten a Sandra Sánchez. April 5, 2017, Retrieved August 6, 2021 (Spanish). 
9. ↑ Eleonora Giovio: Sandra Sánchez, campeona mundial: '¡Pequeñina, lo has hecho!' In: El País . November 11, 2018, ISSN  1134-6582 ( elpais.com [accessed August 6, 2021]).
10. ↑ Olympics: Baseball / softball, sport climbing, surfing, karate, skateboarding at Tokyo 2020 BBC, August 3, 2016, accessed August 6, 2021
11. ^ Pablo M. Díez: Un regalo de aniversario muy dorado. In: El Correo. August 5, 2021, accessed August 6, 2021 (Spanish). 
12. ↑ La talaverana Sandra Sánchez se proclama campeona de España de katas. In: La Voz de Talavera. January 20, 2015, accessed August 6, 2021 (Spanish). 
13. ↑ Sandra Sánchez vuelve a ser de oro y se proclama campeona de España de karate en Guadalajara. In: La Voz de Talavera. March 5, 2016, accessed August 6, 2021 (Spanish). 
14. ^ Juan Martín: Sandra Sánchez: "La chica de oro". In: Cadenaser. March 13, 2017, accessed August 6, 2021 (Spanish). 
15. ^ Andrés García: Sandra Sánchez, por quinta vez, y Pepe Carbonell, por primera, campeones de España. In: Marca. January 12, 2019, accessed August 6, 2021 (Spanish). 
16. ↑ Ronald Goncalves: La mejor en la historia de la categoría Kata en Karate: Así llega Sandra Sánchez a los JJOO. In: Sport.es. July 22, 2021, accessed August 6, 2021 (Spanish). 
17. ↑ ^{a b c d} Almudena Rivera: Kárate: Sandra Sánchez se proclama campeona de Europa por cuarta vez consecutiva. In: Marca. May 12, 2018, accessed August 6, 2021 (Spanish). 
18. ↑ COMITÉ OLÍMPICO ESPAÑOL. In: www.coe.es. Retrieved April 4, 2017 (Spanish). 
19. ↑ ^{a b} Sandra Sánchez y FS Talavera serán galardonados en los XVI Premios Ciudad de Talavera. In: Cadena SER. March 3, 2017, accessed August 5, 2021 (Spanish). 
20. ↑ Rafa Nadal y Sandra Sánchez, Premios Nacionales del Deporte 2017 . In: El País . September 12, 2018, ISSN  1134-6582 ( elpais.com [accessed August 5, 2021]).
21. ↑ La talaverana Sandra Sánchez, premio de la prensa deportiva española. In: AhoraCLM. February 28, 2018, accessed August 5, 2021 (Spanish). 
22. ↑ Sandra Sánchez y José Ángel de la Casa recibirán la Medalla de Oro de CLM en Talavera. In: La Voz de Talavera. April 27, 2018, accessed August 5, 2021 (Spanish). 
23. ↑ Comparable to German honorary citizenship
24. ^ Raquel Jiménez: "Esta medalla también es vuestra". In: La Tribuna de Toledo. November 16, 2018, accessed August 5, 2021 (Spanish). 
25. ^ Sandra Sánchez, Lydia Valentín, Javier Fernández y Regino Hernández, entre los premiados por el COE. In: Marca. November 21, 2018, accessed August 5, 2021 (Spanish). 
26. ↑ Nadal y Sandra Sánchez, mejores deportistas del año para EFE. In: EFE . December 28, 2019, accessed August 5, 2021 (Spanish). 
27. ↑ Most medals won in the Karate 1 Premier League. In: Guinness Book of Records. Retrieved August 5, 2021 (Spanish).