Natalja Jurjewna Kusjutina

Natalja Jurjewna Kusjutina ( Russian: Наталья Юрьевна Кузютина ; born May 8, 1989 in Brjansk ) is a Russian judoka . It competes internationally in the half-light weight (up to 52 kg). Until 2018 she was four times European champion in this weight class.

Athletic career

Kuzjutina was European Cadet Champion in 2004 and 2005. At the Junior World Championships in 2006, she finished fifth. In 2007 she won the Junior European Championships. In the same year she won her first national championship title in the adult class, and two more titles were added in 2008 and 2009. At the European Championships in Tbilisi in 2009 , she won the title by beating the Spaniard Ana Carrascosa in the final . In October 2009 the title followed at the European team championships. In November 2009 she also won the U23 European Championships. In 2010 she won the final of the European Championships in Vienna against the Italian Rosalba Forciniti . At the 2010 World Championships in Tokyo , she lost in the semifinals against the Japanese Yuka Nishida , but received the bronze medal after defeating the Brazilian Érika Miranda . In 2011, Kusjutina won the World Cup in Lisbon, but only finished seventh at the World Championships in Paris . At the European Championships 2012 in Chelyabinsk she reached the final and lost there against the Romanian Andreea Chițu . Three days later, the Russians won the team competition. At the 2012 Olympics , she lost her first fight against the German Romy Tarangul .

In 2013 she won the final against Andreea Chițu at the European Championships in Budapest , the Russian team reached third place. Two months later, Kuzyutina also won the Universiade in Kazan . The following year, she lost in the final of the European Championships in Montpellier against Majlinda Kelmendi from Kosovo. At the World Championships in Chelyabinsk, she lost to the Kosovar in the semifinals, after defeating the Chinese Ma Jingnan , Kusjutina received the bronze medal. The 2015 European Championships took place as part of the European Games in Baku . Kusjutina won bronze against Italian Odette Giuffrida after losing to French Annabelle Euranie in the semifinals . At the 2015 World Championships , Kuzyutina took seventh place. Both in March 2015 and March 2016, Kuzjutina successfully participated in world cup tournaments in South America. At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, she lost her second fight against the Japanese Misato Nakamura , but won the duel for bronze against the Chinese Ma Jingnan in the hope round. She also won bronze at the 2017 World Championships in Budapest. After a quarter-final defeat against the later world champion Ai Shishime from Japan, she won against the French Amandine Buchard and in the battle for bronze against the Israeli Gili Cohen . In the final of the 2018 European Championships in Tel Aviv, Kusjutina defeated the Kosovar Distria Krasniqi . A year later, the European Championships were held as part of the European Games in Minsk, in the final Kusjutina lost to Majlinda Kelmendi. At the 2019 World Championships in Tokyo, she reached the final with victories over Belgian Charline Van Snick in the quarter-finals and French Amandine Buchard in the semi-finals, where she was defeated by Japanese Uta Abe .

Web links

• Natalja Jurjewna Kusjutina at JudoInside.com
• Natalja Jurjewna Kusjutina in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )