Half-Lightweight (≤52 kilograms), Women

This class began without one highly considered judoka. Britain’s Debbie Allan had been the 1999 European Champion. But at the weigh-in she was found to be 400 gm. (14 oz.) overweight. The scales were noted to have been tampered with, so Allan was allowed to re-weigh. She had an hour to lose the weight. She cut her hair off, and stripped naked, but was still found to be 50 gm. (1.8 oz.) overweight and was disqualified. The British protested vociferously which almost led to the British team being disqualified as a group. The tournament would go according to form, however, with the finalists the same as those who met at the 1999 World Championship final. There Noriko Sugawara-Narazaki (JPN) had defeated Cuba’s Legna Verdecia. But this time Verdecia, who had been the 1993 World Champion, threw Sugawara-Narazaki with seoi-otoshi at 2:19 to win the gold medal. One of the bronze medalists was Kye Sun-Hui of North Korea. She had won a gold medal in the 1996 extra-lightweight over Japan’s Ryoko Tamura, which was a huge upset. But in the interim she had become one of the best female judoka in the world. Wallechinsky described the unusual support she received in Sydney, “Kye was cheered on by hundreds of South Korean fans, who, in the spirit of solidarity, sang traditional North Korean songs in her honor.”