Julia Matijass

Julia Matijass (born September 22, 1973 in Ljubino , Soviet Union ) is a German judoka of Russian origin.

Matijass, who belonged to the Russian national team until 1994, was promoted there by the German trainer Jürgen Füchtmeyer after her exclusion and brought to the judo crocodiles in Osnabrück . She has been a German citizen since 1999.

She was three times (1999, 2000, 2002) German champion and 2000 EM third. At the Judo World Championships in 2003 in Osaka , Japan , she was fifth.

She celebrated the greatest success of her career at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens . There she won the bronze medal in the weight class up to 48 kg and thus the first medal for Germany at these games. After Johanna Hagn in Atlanta and Anna-Maria Gradante in Sydney, it was the third Olympic medal for German judoka women.

In 2004 Julia was voted Sportswoman of the Year in Lower Saxony. In 2005 she received the greatest award for an athlete in Germany, the silver laurel leaf, from Federal President Horst Köhler . In the same year, Matijass was awarded the Lower Saxony Sports Medal as a token of recognition for services to sport through outstanding personal sporting achievements.

She works as an administrative clerk at the Osnabrück city administration.

Web links

• Julia Matijass on Judoinside (English)