Samantha Lowe

Samantha Lowe (born 20 January 1982)[1] is an English judoka who won a gold medal in the women's under 70 kg event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

Samantha Lowe
Personal information
National teamEngland
Born (1982-01-20) 20 January 1982
Sport
SportJudo
ClubCamberley
Achievements and titles
Commonwealth finals2002
Medal record
Judo
Representing  England
Commonwealth Games
2002 Manchester 70 kg middleweight

Career

Lowe studied sports science,[2] and trained at the Camberley Judo Club in Surrey.[3]

In 1998, Lowe won the British Junior Championships under 63 kg event.[1] In 1999, Lowe won a bronze medal at the European under-23 championships in Rome.[1] At the 2002 British Open Championships, Lowe beat fellow English athlete Kate Howey, after Howey broke her wrist in a fall.[4] Both Lowe and Howey claimed that they were winning the fight at the time of the injury.[5]

At the age of 20, Lowe was chosen ahead of Howey to represent England in the under 70 kg (middleweight) event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.[5][6][7] Howey appealed against the decision, arguing that she was winning the Open Championship fight before her injury. The Sport Dispute Panel ruled in Howey's favour, and Howey was then selected instead of Lowe.[4][6][5] Lowe counterappealed, and was eventually awarded the spot.[5][6][7] Lowe maintained that she deserved the spot, as she had better form that season.[5] At the Commonwealth Games, Lowe won a match against Northern Ireland's Claire Rainey in ten seconds. She later beat her Scottish rival Amanda Costello in the semi-finals, before beating Canada's Catherine Roberge to win the gold medal.[3]

Later in the year, she came 7th in the under 70 kg event at the 2002 European Judo Championships.[8] Later in 2002, Lowe sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury, which required surgery.[2] In 2003, she came second at the Sweden Open event, losing to Canada's Marie-Hélène Chisholm.[9] Lowe was forced to withdraw from the 2003 national championships after reinjuring her leg.[2] In 2004, Lowe passed out during her semi-final match in the European under-23 championships. She was allowed to compete in the bronze medal match, which she won. The laws had recently been changed; beforehand, she would not have been allowed to compete in the bronze medal match on health grounds.[10] In 2007, Lowe won the under 78 kg event at the Ipswich Judo Championships.[11] In 2009, Lowe came second in the under 78 kg event at the Finnish Open Championships, losing the final to France's Céline Lebrun.[12]

References
  1. "SAMANTHA LOWE JUDOKA". Judoka Inside. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  2. Goodbody, John (15 December 2003). "Fresh injury blow forces Lowe to limp away from finals". The Times. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  3. Soames, Nicolas (2 August 2002). "Judo: Lowe hits heights". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  4. Hubbard, Alan (25 July 2002). "Judo: Howey a natural born fighter". The Independent. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  5. "Lowe defends her selection". BBC News. 25 July 2002. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  6. Mackay, Duncan; Wilson, Andy (25 July 2002). "British judo rivals do battle off-mat". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  7. Nickson, Philip (25 July 2002). "Judo: Medal hope Howey loses out in bitter selection row". The Independent. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  8. "2002 European Judo Championships Results". International Judo Federation. Archived from the original on 15 October 2006. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  9. "Chisholm wins gold at judo's Sweden Open". CBC Sports. 16 November 2003. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  10. Youlton, Clive (16 December 2004). "Sam hopes the Lowe times are over". Surrey Advertiser. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  11. "Open event heralds start of celebrations". East Anglian Daily Times. 27 March 2007. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  12. "French athletes win 6 Finnish Open titles". European Judo Union. 8 November 2009. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
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