Craig Fallon

Craig Fallon (2008)

Craig Patrick Fallon (born December 18, 1982 in Ipswich , † July 15, 2019 in Wellington , Shropshire ) was a British judoka . He was world champion in 2005 and European champion in 2006.

Athletic career

The 1.67 m tall Craig Fallon fought mostly in the ultralight, the weight class up to 60 kilograms. In 2001 he was runner-up in the U20 European Championships. His first big win came at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester. He won the final for England against the Indian Akram Shah . In early 2003 he won the Tournoi de Paris . At the European Championships in 2003 in Düsseldorf he reached the final and lost to the Georgian Nestor Chergiani . Four months later, he reached the final at the 2003 World Championships in Osaka by beating the German Oliver Gussenberg in the semi- finals and was defeated there by the South Korean Choi Min-ho .

In 2004 he was eliminated from the Olympics in Athens in the round of 16 against the Greek Revazi Zintiridis . In November 2004 Fallon won the U23 European Championships. At the 2005 World Championships in Cairo, he reached the final with a semi-final victory over the Kazakhs Salamat Utarbayev and won the world title by defeating the Austrian Ludwig Paischer . The following year he won at the European Championships 2006 in Tampere in the semifinals against Nestor Chergiani and in the final against the Armenian Armen Nazarjan . After that, Fallon only took part in an international championship again at the European Championships in Lisbon in 2008 , but was eliminated in the round of 16 against the Czech Pavel Petřikov . At the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, he lost to Ludwig Paischer in the round of 16, and Fallon fought his way to seventh place in the round of hope.

Fallon's last big tournament was the 2011 World Championships , he was eliminated in his opening fight in the half lightweight division. Fallon was trained by Fitzroy Davies. After his career, Fallon worked as a trainer himself. In March 2019, he was appointed Welsh head coach. He died in July 2019 at the foot of The Wrekin near Wellington , Shropshire .

Web links

• Tournament results at judoinside.com
• Craig Fallon in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

Footnotes

1. ↑ Commonwealth Games 2002 at judoinside.com
2. ↑ Match balance at judoinside.com
3. ↑ British judo Legend Craif Fallon dies at age of 36 message on judoinside.com from July 16, 2019