Malloy Fights through Huge Field to Take 5th at
World Championships

August 25 – Marti Malloy has been on a roll that took her all the way into the semi finals of the World Championships in Paris yesterday, finishing 5th in a huge field of the best judo fighters from around the planet.

"Taking 5th in the worlds is very bittersweet because I was so close to winning the bronze,” said Malloy. “But I do feel that I am making big strides towards my Olympic medal goal."

"The highlight of my day was being able to string together four straight wins and being able to keep good momentum throughout the entire day," she said. "This has only made me hungrier to reach an Olympic podium."

Malloy, 57 kg, (USA Judo National Training Site at San Jose State University) took medals in three World Cup tournaments last month alone. She went into the World Championships in Paris, the biggest of the big tournaments in judo alongside the Olympics, looking strong and fit, said Jimmy Pedro, her coach at the tournament and two-time Olympic Bronze Medalist. “Marti has added a lot to her judo repertoire this year and gained some valuable experience against world class competition,” he said.

The hard work and momentum paid off for Malloy as she continued her climb through a field of 65 fighters in her division at the World Championships.

Malloy worked her way steadily through her pool, first dominating Elena Isakova of Kyrgyzstan with two yukos followed by two wazaris to finish the match in 3 minutes and 18 seconds.

Her second fight against China’s Guirong Zhu was more challenging with Malloy scoring a wazari but winding the clock down the full 5 minutes to win.

The work didn’t get any easier. In Malloy’s third victory, she got pinned by Austria’s Sabrina Filzmoser for 13 seconds before escaping without getting scored on. She then threw Filzmoser with an osoto gare for yuko and ran the clock down for the huge win to get to the quarterfinals. “This was a huge upset win against one of the top girls in the division for Marti,” commented Coach Pedro. “No doubt she shocked the world.”

Indicative of just how big this tournament is, Marti didn’t make it to the semi-finals until after winning her next fight against Russia’s Irina Zabludina. After survining numerous newaza attacks by the Russian, Malloy blasted Zabludina with a shoulder throw for waza-ari and the victory. It was then she faced Rafaela Silva of Brazil in the semi-final match. The match was scoreless and dead even with just 1 minute to go, when Silva attacked Malloy with an osoto gari. It appeared that Marti would counter the attack, but Silva overpowered her and threw Malloy for Ippon and advanced to the final. Silva went on to take Silver behind Aiko Sato of Japan.

In the Bronze medal match, Malloy faced C. Caprioriu of Romania. This was a true dog fight with neither girl able to score on the other during regulation, although Marti unquestionably had significantly better attacks throughout the match. In overtime, Marti strung a bunch of attacks together and it appeared as though the Romanian was about to get her second shido which would have given the match to Marti. But after her next attack, Malloy’s arm got caught behind her and the Romanian capitalized on the opportunity by jumping into an armlock for the submission win with just 1 minute to go in OT.

“I am so proud of the way Marti fought today. Finishing 5th at the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS is an amazing feat,” commented Pedro. “With this result, Marti pretty much guaranteed herself a slot in the Olympic Games in London, England.”

"A huge thanks goes out to my teammates and coaches at San Jose State University for helping me prepare, as well as USA Judo staff and medical team in Paris who all made this result possible," Malloy said.