Diadenis Luna

Diadenis Luna Castellano (born September 11, 1975 in Santiago de Cuba ) is a former Cuban judoka . She won an Olympic bronze medal in 1996 and was world champion in 1995.

Athletic career

The 1.71 m tall Diadenis Luna fought in the light heavyweight division. In this weight class she was from 1993 to 1996 and again in 1999 Cuban champion. Already at the world championships in 1993 she finished seventh. In 1995 she won the title at the Pan American Games by beating Francis Gomez from Venezuela in the final . In the finals of the Universiade in Fukuoka she was defeated by the Japanese Saki Yoshida . At the World Championships in Chiba , she defeated the British Kate Howey in the semi-finals and the Belgian Ulla Werbrouck in the final . In the following year at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, she lost to the French Estha Essombe in her first fight , with four wins in the round of hope Luna won a bronze medal.

In 1997 Luna won the Pan American Championships. At the World Championships in Paris, she lost in the final to the Japanese Noriko Anno . In 1998 she won the title again at the Pan American Championships and in 1999 she won the Pan American Games for the second time . At the 1999 World Championships in Birmingham she was defeated by the French Celine Lebrun in the round of 16 , but fought her way to the bronze medal with four wins in the round of hope. In her last major tournament she reached the semifinals at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney . After defeats against Celine Lebrun and against the Italian Emanuela Pierantozzi , Diadenis Luna took fifth place.

Web links

• Diadenis Luna in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Diadenis Luna on judoinside.com