Malloy wins gold at Miami Grand Prix

Marti Malloy isn’t finished winning medals. The 2004 Oak Harbor High School graduate, who won an Olympic bronze in judo last summer, captured a gold medal at the Miami Grand Prix June 15.

Marti Malloy isn’t finished winning medals.

The 2004 Oak Harbor High School graduate, who won an Olympic bronze in judo last summer, captured a gold medal at the Miami Grand Prix June 15.

The event was the first grand prix held in the United States, and Malloy thrilled the home crowd on the way to winning the 57 kilogram division.

Malloy defeated Hungary’s Hedvig Karakas in the title bout. Karakas finished fifth at both the London games and 2013 European championships.

“This was the highest level event for judo other than the 1996 Olympics ever held on U.S. soil,” Malloy said, “and I was determined to bring home a gold for my host country. It was an honor and a pleasure to do so while the crowd chanted USA! USA! USA! It was very satisfying, and I couldn’t be happier as my San Jose State University teammate Colton Brown (men’s 90kg) captured the only other American medal for the event by winning a bronze.”

Malloy was the only American to win one of the 14 classifications in Miami. Only one other American woman finished in the top seven. The American men picked up a fifth and two sevenths to go along with Brown’s third.

Nearly 300 judoka from 37 countries took part in the event.

The next significant match for Malloy is the world championships in Rio De Janeiro at the end of August.

She said, “Right now all my attention is going to be focused on being ready to hopefully take a gold medal there as well.”