Kanae Yamabe

Kanae Yamabe and her 2016 Olympic medal

Kanae Yamabe ( Japanese 山 部 佳 苗 Yamabe Kanae ; born September 22, 1990 in Sapporo ) is a Japanese judoka . She won an Olympic heavyweight bronze medal in 2016.

Athletic career

The 1.72 m tall Kanae Yamabe took second place in the open class at the Universiade 2009 in Belgrade, behind the Chinese Zhang Jie . Three months later, she won a bronze heavyweight medal at the U20 World Championships. In 2011 she won the team competition at the Universiade with the Japanese team. At the East Asian Games 2013 she won the silver medal in the heavyweight division behind the Chinese Qin Qian . In 2014 Yamabe won the Grand Slam tournament in Paris. At the world championships in Chelyabinsk she finished seventh, with the Japanese team she won the bronze medal. The following year she lost to the Chinese Yu Song in the quarter-finals of the World Championships in Astana , with victories over the Mexican Vanessa Zambotti and the Russian Xenija Tschibissowa in the hope round , the Japanese secured a bronze medal. The Japanese women's team won the team title in Astana.

At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro , Yamabe prematurely defeated the Lithuanian Santa Pakenytė in the second round and the Dutch Tessie Savelkouls in the quarter-finals . In the semifinals she was defeated by the Cuban Idalys Ortíz by a penalty. In the battle for a bronze medal, Yamabe defeated the Turkish Kayra Sayit by several penalties. Kanae Yamabe lost the Grand Slam in Paris 2017 in the final of her compatriot Sarah Asahina , who was also the strongest Japanese woman in the heavyweight division at the 2017 and 2018 World Championships.

Web links

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

Footnotes

1. ↑ Universiade 2009 at judoinside.com
2. ↑ East Asian Games 2013 at judoinside.com
3. ↑ Match balance at judoinside.com
4. ↑ The results of the fights are from SportsReference