Anamari Velenšek

Anamari Velenšek and her bronze medal (2016 in Rio de Janeiro)

Anamari Velenšek (born May 15, 1991 in Celje ) is a Slovenian judoka .

Athletic career

The 1.78 m tall judoka started in middleweight (up to 70 kg) until 2009, and since then in light heavyweight (up to 78 kg).

In 2009 she finished fifth at the Junior World Championships. In 2010 she finished seventh at the 2010 European Judo Championships . At the Junior World Championships 2010 she reached the final and received the silver medal behind the Brazilian Mayra Aguiar . In 2011 she lost at the European Championships in Istanbul in the quarter-finals against the French Audrey Tcheuméo , and she won the battle for the bronze medal against the Hungarian Abigél Joó . The following year she lost in the quarter-finals of the European Championships in Chelyabinsk against the Dutch Marhinde Verkerk, but won the bronze medal against the German Luise Malzahn in the hope round . At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, she lost her first fight against Daria Pogorzelec from Poland . At the end of 2012, the Slovenian won bronze at the U23 European Championships.

In 2013 Anamari Velenšek reached the final of the European Championships in Budapest and won silver behind the French Lucie Louette . The following year, she lost to US judoka Kayla Harrison in the quarter-finals of the 2014 World Championships in Chelyabinsk , but then fought her way to the bronze medal. At the European Championships in 2015 Velenšek lost in the semifinals to Luise Malzahn, but won the battle for the bronze medal against the British Natalie Powell . The next day she won the bronze medal in the team competition with the Slovenian team. At the 2015 World Championships in Astana , she defeated French Audrey Tcheuméo in the semifinals, and lost to Japanese Mami Umeki in the final . After a fifth place at the 2016 European Championships in Kazan , she won her first two fights at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and lost to the American Kayla Harrison in the semi-finals. In the battle for bronze she defeated the German Luise Malzahn.

Anamari Velenšek at JudoInside.com
Anamari Velenšek in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )