Coughlan digs in: best Worlds result since 2003
- jnunan23
- Jun 18
- 2 min read
Australian judo athlete Aoife Coughlan has won 5th place in the World Championships of Judo, taking place in Budapest, Hungary, this week.
Coughlan won three fights before losing by a single yuko to top seed and world number 1, Lara Cvjetko of Croatia. While both matches were close, the bronze medal match with Olympic silver medallist - and world number 3 - Butkereit would be the true nail-biter.
With both athletes penalised two shidos and with no points on the scoreboard after four minutes of regulation time, they would continue to battle into well into Golden Score, the match lasting almost 7 minutes before an attack by Coughlan was countered and transformed into Ippon by the German player.
Butkereit would take the bronze and Coughlan 5th place, following a showdown between Cvjetko and Japanese player - and new world champion - Shiho Tanaka. Sanne Van Dijke - who Coughlan beat in the round of 16 - would take the second bronze with Butkereit.
It was the first time since 2003 that an Australian judoka has fought for a medal at the Senior World Championships – and the last person to achieve it was Maria Pekli, Judo Australia’s General Manager of Performance & Pathways.
As Technical Head - Judo for our high performance training centre, CombatAus, Pekli works closely with Coughlan and the wider Australian team, alongside Senior National Coach Daniel Kelly and Junior National Coach, Emilien Freund.
“I want to congratulate Aoife on taking her place among the best judo players in the world, the opportunity to fight for a medal at Worlds is an achievement in itself. And seeing her fight with such aggressive, technically strong judo is incredibly satisfying – even if another player proved stronger on the day, bringing your best is the most we can ask,” Pekli said.
"At this level, the athletes are all excellent, very well matched, and the tiniest of mistakes can make the difference. Not even a mistake - an attack that the other player was able to turn to their advantage. That is judo!"
Coughlan started her judo in the small Victorian town of Traralgon, before joining Resilience Training Centre in Footscray, Melbourne, where she has trained for more than a decade. She contested her first Olympics in 2020, before representing Australia in Paris in 2024.
She leads a small team at the World Championships, with Tinka Easton having fought on day two, Katharina Haecker on day three, and Maria Swan due to fight tonight from 7.30pm. Only players ranked in the top 100 worldwide are able to contest World Championships.
“Aoife inspires all our players, and particularly those in the Pathways development program, which is preparing future World Champions, Olympians and Commonwealth Games medallists right now. As we build towards next year’s CommGames, we look forward to more excellent performances,” Pekli concluded.
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