Name: Ma Zhenzhao

Gender: Female

Date of birth: April 24, 1998

Birthplace: Huantai County, Zibo City (from Binzhou, Shandong)

Sports team: Shandong team

Sports career

Ma Zhenzhao has shown his love and talent for judo since he was a child. She started judo at the age of 9 and has made significant progress in a short period of time. Her athletic career has been filled with honors and challenges. Here are some of her key achievements:

2017: In the judo competition of the 13th National Games, Ma Zhenzhao won the runner-up in the women's 78kg category.

2018: In the judo competition of the Jakarta Asian Games, she won the third place in the women's 78kg category.

2019: In the Asian Judo Championships, Ma Zhenzhao won the runner-up in the women's 78kg category. However, that same year she underwent surgery for a joint injury, which affected her training and competition.

2021: Ma Zhenzhao was selected into the list of judo athletes for the Chinese Sports Delegation at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. However, due to injuries, her performance at the Olympics was not optimal. In the same year, she won the gold medal in the women's judo 78kg class at the finals of the 14th National Games.

2022: At the Judo World Championships, Ma Zhenzhao won the runner-up in the women's 78kg category. In addition, she also won the women's 78kg gold medal at the Abu Dhabi Judo Grand Slam and a bronze medal at the Asian Judo Championships.

2023: Ma Zhenzhao continues to maintain strong momentum in the international arena. She won the women's 78kg bronze medal in the Tashkent International Judo Grand Slam. In the same year, she won the championship with outstanding performance in the women's 78kg judo final of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou.

2024: Ma Zhenzhao was selected for the Chinese team in the women's 78kg judo competition at the Paris Olympics and successfully won the bronze medal at the Olympics.

Personal characteristics

Ma Zhenzhao is known for his tenacious will and excellent technique in judo competitions. She has the bold character of Shandong people and never gives up when faced with difficulties and challenges. During the competition, she showed strong mental quality and perseverance.

Social evaluation

Ma Zhenzhao's outstanding performance not only won the applause and respect of the audience, but also made a positive contribution to the development of Chinese judo. Her success has inspired more young athletes to devote themselves to judo and contribute to the development of Chinese sports.

To sum up, Ma Zhenzhao is a talented and courageous Chinese female judoka. Her sports career is full of glory and glory, and has also added luster to the development of China's sports industry.

Ma Zhenzhao (white) of China celebrates after defeating Anna-Maria Wagner of Germany at the judo women -78kg contest for bronze medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, Aug. 1, 2024. 

PARIS, Aug. 1 -- China's two-time Olympic judoka Ma Zhenzhao took bronze in the women's 78kg category at the Paris Olympics on Thursday, earning the country's first Olympic judo medal since Rio 2016.

The gold medal went to top-ranked Alice Bellandi of Italy, while Israel's Inbar Lanir grabbed the silver medal.

Madeleine Malonga of France was eliminated in the round of 16, losing to world No. 13 Patricia Sampaio of Portugal, who later overwhelmed world No. 5 Ma in the quarterfinal.

Asiad champion Ma, 26, placed 17th at Tokyo 2020, defeated Ukraine's Yelyzaveta Lytvynenko in a repechage contest and went on to beat world No. 2 Anna-Maria Wagner of Germany in the bronze medal match with a waza-ari, sharing the medal with Sampaio.

The men's 100kg final saw Georgia's Ilia Sulamanidze score a waza-ari within 53 seconds, but ultimately lost due to a Shido penalty for grip avoidance, surrendering the gold medal to Azerbaijan's Zelym Kotsoiev.

It marked Azerbaijan's second judo gold in Paris. Israel's Peter Paltchik and Uzbekistan's Muzaffarbek Turoboyev shared third place.