Sophia Bouderbane

Sophia Bouderbane (born 2 August 1995) is a French karateka. She won the gold medal in the women's kumite 50 kg event at the 2019 European Karate Championships held in Guadalajara, Spain.

Sophia Bouderbane
Personal information
Born (1995-08-02) 2 August 1995
Toulon, France[1]
Height1.60 m (5 ft 3 in) (2021)[2]
Weight49 kg (108 lb) (2021)[2]
Sport
CountryFrance
SportKarate
Weight class50 kg
LeagueLigue Régionale Ile-de-France[2]
ClubAmicale Sportive Evry[2]
Coached byAdrien Gautier[2]
Medal record
Women's karate
Representing  France
European Games
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Minsk Kumite 50 kg
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Guadalajara Kumite 50 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Tampere Kumite 50 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Novi Sad Team kumite

Career

Bouderbane joined her neighbourhood karate club (in the village of Pignans) at the age of three, following her brother into the sport.[3][4] At the age of nine she won her first national championship, and by the age of 14 she was training with the French national karate team.[4][5] At club level, Bouderbane has represented Karaté Club Cabassois and Amicale Sportive d'Evry.[2] She currently represents Amicale Sportive d'Evry, for whom she also acts as an ambassador.[6][7]

In 2014, at the age of 18 – and while studying at INSA Lyon – she won a bronze medal in the women's kumite 50 kg event at the 2014 European Karate Championships held in Tampere, Finland.[3] In 2016, Bouderbane underwent major surgery on her hip to correct a birth defect, but continued to train, compete, and continue her karate career.[3] At the 2018 European Karate Championships held in Novi Sad, Serbia, she won the bronze medal in the team kumite event.[8]

Bouderbane improved on this performance at the 2019 European Karate Championships in Guadalajara by winning the gold medal in the women's kumite 50 kg event,[9] overcoming Austrian karateka (and former European Champion) Bettina Plank 5-0 in the final.[10] Later in 2019, at the 2019 European Games held in Minsk, Belarus, she won a bronze medal in the women's kumite 50 kg event.[11][12] In the semi-finals she lost against Serap Özçelik of Turkey.

Bouderbane has stated that she is unable to make a living from the sport in France, in part due to the lack of exposure at the Olympic Games.[3][note 1] In this context, she has spoken of the importance of individual sponsorships.[13] Bouderbane herself has been sponsored by FDJ and Michelin over the course of her sporting career.[3]

Achievements
YearCompetitionVenueRankEvent
2014 European Championships Tampere, Finland 3rd Kumite 50 kg
2018 European Championships Novi Sad, Serbia 3rd Team kumite
2019 European Championships Guadalajara, Spain 1st Kumite 50 kg
European Games Minsk, Belarus 3rd Kumite 50 kg

Notes
  1. Subsequent to her statement in this interview, karate made its Summer Olympic Games debut at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

References
  1. Lemonnier, Jérôme (2 April 2019). "Evry. Sophia Bouderbane sacrée championne d'Europe de karaté". Actu.fr (in French). Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  2. "Sophie BOUDERBANE". France Karaté 2020 (in French). Archived from the original on 29 August 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  3. Ledru, Pierre-Alexis (3 May 2019). "Sophia Bouderbane : « À cœur de montrer que le karaté a sa place aux JO »". SPORTMAG (Interview). Interviewed by Pierre-Alexis Ledru. SPORTMAG. Archived from the original on 29 August 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  4. Philippe Perron (director) (2016). Sophia Bouderbane, la tête et les poings (in French). France: Réseau Canopé. Event occurs at 0:25. Archived from the original on 5 September 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  5. "Sophia BOUDERBANE - Athlète de la Team Michelin". Team Michelin (in French). Archived from the original on 29 August 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  6. "Liste de nos adhérents Haut-Niveaux". Amicale Sportive d'Evry (in French). 9 November 2020. Archived from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  7. "Nos nouvelles Ambassadrices !". Amicale Sportive d'Evry (in French). 27 January 2021. Archived from the original on 6 April 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  8. "2018 European Karate Championships" (PDF). World Karate Federation. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 April 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  9. "Results Book" (PDF). 2019 European Karate Championships. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 August 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  10. "Karaté : Sophia Bouderbane en or aux Championnats d'Europe". L'Équipe (in French). 30 March 2019. Archived from the original on 8 March 2020. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  11. Rowbottom, Mike (30 June 2019). "Italy's Maresca earns dramatic win as Ukraine take two golds in karate finale at Minsk 2019". InsideTheGames.biz. Archived from the original on 17 November 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
  12. "Karate Medalists" (PDF). 2019 European Games. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 August 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  13. "Michelin soutient l'athlète Sophia Bouderbane jusqu'en 2020". Le Progrès (in French). 20 March 2018. Archived from the original on 5 September 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
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