Petra Sunday

Petra Sonntag , b. Petra Rau (* 1957 in Schmalkalden ) is a former successful judo athlete.

The first ten years as a judoka

Petra Rau's interest in judo was aroused at school in 1968, when boys and girls between the ages of 11 and 12 were approached to join a student exercise group of SV Dynamo Schmalkalden that was being set up. Petra Rau became a member of SV Dynamo and prepared for the 5th Kyu exam in training , which was required for participation in competitions. After successfully passing the Kyu exam, she took part in competitions as a yellow belt in the Schmalkalden Judo Fighting Circle. In her age and weight class, she repeatedly met Karin Wolf from BSG Motor Schmalkalden , against whom she always lost the mat in a total of eleven fights. The superiority of her competitor spurred Petra Rau's ambition and in August 1969 she moved to the judo section of BSG Motor Schmalkalden . The increased training requirements of the Dan bearer Hans-Dieter Clemen led to the first successes in the pioneer cup in the new club , where she achieved 2nd place at GDR level in 1969 and won in 1970 in the weight class (GK) up to 55.0 kg. How strong the club's internal competition was was shown in 1971 when her training partner Karin Wolf won the bronze medal at the GDR championships. In the period from 1970 to 1973, Petra Rau collected a lot of fighting points and, during training, worked out the requirements for the 1st Dan exam, which she acquired in 1973 in accordance with the examination regulations of the German Judo Association (DJV). In 1974 she took part in the GDR U18 championships in Berlin and won her first GDR championship title in the GK up to 65 kg. At the GDR championships for women in 1975, she won 3rd place in the class up to 63 kg. In 1976 she won the silver medal in the class up to 68 kg and in 1977 the bronze medal in the class up to 72 kg.

Ten years as a serial winner in the heavyweight division

After she had married in the meantime and adopted the family name of her husband, Sonntag, Petra became pregnant in 1978 and took a break. She resumed training after the birth of her son. With higher body weight and greater physical strength, she started in 1979 at the GDR championships, where she won the silver medal in the heavyweight division (GK over 72 kg) and the bronze medal in the GK all categories .

1980 began for Petra Sonntag the most successful time as a judo fighter. Until 1987 she was GDR heavyweight champion without interruption and also won the championship titles in all categories in 1984 and 1987 . It was exceptional that she was awarded the “Best Technician” award as a heavyweight . Her specialty techniques were various foot and hip throws . For her sporting success she was awarded the 2nd Dan by the DJV. She also received the honorary title of Master of Sports .

As a member of the GDR national women's team, she took part in several international comparative matches and also achieved podium places. Although the DJV has hosted GDR women's championships since 1966, female judoka were not accepted into the sports clubs' performance centers . Without this support, the door to international high-performance sport would remain closed to Petra Sonntag. For sport-political reasons, the DJV did not give her the opportunity to participate in the European Championships (EM) or World Championships (WM) for women judo, despite good chances of victory. Petra Sonntag watched with great disappointment as the West German judoka Barbara Claßen , nominated by the German Judo Association (DJB) , who fought in her weight class and against whom she would have liked to compete, won European Championship and World Championship titles in the 1980s. In 1988 Petra Sonntag played her last GDR championships at the age of 31 and was runner-up in the heavyweight division . In the final she lost to Carmen Godel from Dresden .

The last ten years as a judoka

In 1989 there were no GDR women's judo championships. After the fall of the Wall and the peaceful revolution in the GDR , Petra Sonntag had to reorient herself professionally and sportily in 1990. In the last GDR championships, which won the heavyweight Irina Meszynski from SC Dynamo Hoppegarten in 1990 , she no longer took part. The Schmalkalden tool combination had failed as the sponsoring company of the sports club and Petra Sonntag became unemployed. She did not participate in the re-establishment of the judo department of the SV Schmalkalden 04 sports club , successor to the judo section of BSG Motor . From 1991 she was active in sports at the vocational training center (BBZ) in Schmalkalden. There she passed the 3rd Dan exam in 1996 and got an ABM position as a trainer at the sports community BBZ-Athletik . After almost 30 years of judoka, Petra Sonntag started for BBZ-Athletik Schmalkalden in 1998 at the Thuringian state championships and at the end of her judo career she was Thuringian vice-champion.

Successes at GDR championships

Petra Sonntag won the GDR women's championships from 1974 to 1988:

• Gold medal 11 times, including one among the juniors (U18)
• 12 times the silver medal
• 9 times the bronze medal

Others

Petra Sonntag is based in Asbach . For her eleven GDR championship titles, she and Henry Stöhr , who had won 13 individual titles in GDR championships, were included in the 1992 Guinness Book of Records . The logged on Petra Sunday Guinness World Record, five heavyweight fights at a Judo Championship in total 3 minutes and 12 seconds victorious with Ippon finished , is not yet unbroken. The city of Schmalkalden honored her with the award of honorary citizenship . She worked in the development association for trainees in Schmalkalden and has been in retirement since April 2018.

Web links

• GDR champions (heavyweight)
• GDR champions (all categories)
• Series of articles 50 Years of Judo in Schmalkalden (1958–2008) pdf

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Successes SV Schmalkalden 04 (Petra Sonntag)
2. ↑ ibid
3. ↑ ibid
4. ↑ THE NEW GUINNESS BOOK OF RECORDS 1992. Ullstein Verlag, Berlin 1991, p. 29, ISBN 3-550-07750-5