Maureen Braziel

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Maureen Braziel
ResidenceBrooklyn, New York, USA
StyleJudo

Maureen Braziel was one of the pioneers of Women's Judo competition.[1] She has been thought of as being one of the top Judoka in the United States,[2] and within the 1970s.[3]

Competition[]

She won the silver medal heavyweight in the 1971 British Open, and bronze in the open division.[4] She was the first female to place in international competition in Judo.[4] As a result, helped to make women's Judo a sport under the Amateur Athletic Union.[1] Maureen was the women's US National 1st-place winner for the heavyweight division and the grand champion for the years 1974, 1975, and 1976.[5]
At a competition weight of 180 lbs, Maureen was strong enough to compete with men.[6] She defeated Diane Pierce in 1974 for the national championship.[6] Diane Pierce would later appear on the show To Tell The Truth claiming to be the 1974 National Judo Champion.[6] Maureen won the gold medal in the 1975 Judo International championship for the heavyweight division in Switzerland.[4] She was the undisputed US Heavyweight Champion on the East Coast from 1967 to 1977.[7] In 1976 she was part of the US Women's National Team under her friend [8] and team coach Rusty Kanokogi[4] She placed second in 1977, 1979 and 1980 for the Women's US Nationals[9] She was the Amateur Athletic Union Most Outstanding Player Award in 1974 [1]

In 2021, she was inducted into the United States Judo Federation's Hall of Fame [10]

Personal life[]

Following competition she founded the PolyTech Judo Club.[7] She served as the head coach for the Poly Tech Judo Club.[11] She would later serve as athletic director at Poly Tech.[12] Even later she would serve as the athletic director for NYU-Poly.[13] She would later retire after 30 years at NYU.[13] She served as the secretary for NYS Judo (circa 2009).[14]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c "NYU Tandon School of Engineering". archive.poly.edu. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
  2. ^ Black Belt. January 1978.
  3. ^ "CNN Sports provided by Bleacher Report - CNN.com".
  4. ^ a b c d Miller, Ernestine G. (2002). Making Her Mark. ISBN 9780071390538.
  5. ^ "USA Judo - Features, Events, Results | Team USA". usjudo.org. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
  6. ^ a b c Black Belt. June 1975.
  7. ^ a b "Poly eBriefs".
  8. ^ "Black Belt". January 1975.
  9. ^ "USA Judo - Features, Events, Results - Team USA". Team USA.
  10. ^ "Maureen Braziel – United States Judo Federation".
  11. ^ "Judo Has Stellar Weekend at Tech Invitational".
  12. ^ Yonah. "The Road to Shodan".
  13. ^ a b "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-11-15. Retrieved 2013-11-15.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-21. Retrieved 2011-03-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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