Heidi Rakels

Heidi Maria Hubertina Rakels (born June 22, 1968 in Leuven ) is a former Belgian judoka . She was Olympic third in 1992 and twice European championship runner-up.

Athletic career

The 1.78 m tall Heidi Rakels mostly fought in the light heavyweight division. In 1990 she won silver in the light heavyweight division and gold in the open class at the student world championships. In 1992 she entered the middleweight division and reached the final of the European Championships, where she was defeated by the Italian Emanuela Pierantozzi . At the Olympic premiere of women's judo in Barcelona in 1992, she lost to British Kate Howey in the quarter-finals . With three wins in the hope round she won a bronze medal, defeating the German Alexandra Schreiber in the decisive fight .

1994 and 1995 came Rakels with moderate success in the light heavyweight division. In 1996 she was fifth in the middleweight division of the European Championships. From 1997 she finally moved to the light heavyweight division. In 1998 she was fifth at the European Championships and won bronze at the World Team Championships with the Belgian team. At the European Championships in 1999 she was defeated in the semi-finals by the French Celine Lebrun , but won the bronze medal against the Spanish Esther San Miguel . The Belgian women's team won the European title in 1999. At the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Rakels won her first three fights. In the semifinals she was defeated by the Chinese Tang Lin and lost the battle for bronze to the Romanian Simona Richter .

2001 Rakels reached the final at the European Championships again after nine years, this time she lost to Celine Lebrun. In 2003, Rakels was again seventh at the European Championships.

Belgian championship title

• Middleweight: 1992
• Light Heavyweight: 1987, 1989, 1990, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003
• Open class: 1990

Web links

• Heidi Rakels at JudoInside.com
• Heidi Rakels in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )