Claudia Heill
Claudia Heill (2010)
Personal information
Born(1982-01-24)24 January 1982
Vienna, Austria
Died31 March 2011(2011-03-31) (aged 29)
Vienna, Austria
OccupationJudoka
Height1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) [1]
Sport
CountryAustria
SportJudo
Rank     4th dan black belt[1]
ClubJC Shiai-Do Wr. Neudorf Thermenregion[2]
Coached byHupo Rohrauer[3]
RetiredJune 2009[2]
Achievements and titles
Olympic GamesSilver (2004)
World Champ.5th (2001)
European Champ.Silver (2001, 2005)
Medal record
Women's judo
Representing  Austria
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2004 Athens ‍–‍63 kg
European Championships
Silver medal – second place 2001 Paris ‍–‍63 kg
Silver medal – second place 2005 Rotterdam ‍–‍63 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2002 Maribor ‍–‍63 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2003 Düsseldorf ‍–‍63 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2007 Belgrade ‍–‍63 kg
World Juniors Championships
Silver medal – second place 1998 Cali ‍–‍63 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2000 Nabeul ‍–‍63 kg
European Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 1998 Bucharest ‍–‍63 kg
Silver medal – second place 2000 Nicosia ‍–‍63 kg
Profile at external databases
IJF401
JudoInside.com498
Updated on 31 May 2023.

Claudia Heill (24 January 1982 – 31 March 2011) was an Austrian judoka best known for winning the silver medal in the half-middleweight (‍–‍63 kg) division at the 2004 Summer Olympics.[4]

Biography

In addition to her success at the 2004 Summer Olympics, Heill won silver medals[5] at the European Championships in 2001 and 2005 and bronze medals in 2002, 2003 and 2007. She placed fifth at the 2008 Summer Olympics and retired one year later. After retiring from competition, she began coaching junior judoka.[6]

Heill in 1998 aged 16 won the ‍–‍63 kg category at the Senior Austrian National Championships.[7] Later that same year Heill won silver at the Junior World Championships (Cali) where she lost to the Japanese Keiko Maeda. Within a month Heill took the gold medal at the Junior European Championships (Bucharest). Heill’s position as a world-class judoka in the ‍–‍63 kg category was developing quickly. In 2000, at the Junior World Championships (Nabul) she won bronze and at the Junior European Championships (Nicosia) she won silver. By 2001, Heill began concentrating on her senior career and she took a silver medal in the European Championships (Paris)[8] and placed fifth at the World Championships (Munich).

Heill spent the next seven years competing internationally. She was one of four Austrians (Sabrina Filzmoser, Ludwig Paischer and Andreas Mitterfellner making up the quartet) to take gold medals at the World Military Championships in 2006[9] helping her country top the medal table. Her finest hour was her silver medal-winning performance at the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004. “This had been her dream even as she began practicing her first judo attacks as a seven-year-old,” said her longtime coach Hubert Rohrauer.[10] Heill was part of the organizing committee at the European Championships in Vienna in 2010.

Heill committed suicide by jumping to her death from a 6th-story window in Vienna on 31 March 2011.[11] Shortly before her death, Heill was a commentator on JudoTV at the Judo World Cup in Oberwart. Her former teammate Ludwig Paischer was stunned by her tragic death, saying, "She was such a fun-loving, friendly person."

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Claudia Heill.

References

  1. ^ a b "Olympedia – Claudia Heill". Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Steckbrief Claudia Heill". derstandard.at (in Austrian German).
  3. ^ "Claudia Heill: Suizid nach Beziehungsdrama?" (in German). 5 August 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  4. ^ "Claudia Heill Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
  5. ^ "Österreichische Olympia-Zweite nimmt sich das Leben". welt.de (in German). 31 March 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  6. ^ "Austria judo medallist Claudia Heill falls to her death". bbc.com. 31 March 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  7. ^ "Claudia Heill". judoinside.com. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  8. ^ "Former Olympic Judo Silver Medalist Commits Suicide in Austria". foxnews.com. 19 September 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  9. ^ "Sportwelt entsetzt über Selbstmord von Heill". heute.at (in German). 31 March 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  10. ^ "Judo-Österreich trauert um Claudia HeillJudo-Österreich trauert um Claudia Heill". judoaustria.at (in German). 4 April 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  11. ^ "Austrian judo medalist Heill, 29, jumps to death". ESPN.com. 31 March 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
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