Australian Judoka Katharina Haecker Aiming to Shine at the Olympic Games

Australian judoka Katharina Haecker is on a mission to put two previous disappointments behind her by winning a medal at next summer’s Olympic Games in France.

Katharina Haecker has competed in the women's 63 kg event at the last two editions of the Summer Olympics in Brazil and Japan, but was eliminated in the second round on each occasion.

She fared better in the 2018 World Championships in Azerbaijan, finishing a respectable seventh after progressing to the quarter-finals.

Haecker was one of the bookmakers’ favourites to win gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, but had to settle for bronze after making a mistake in her semi-final match.

The two-time Olympian scored two waza-aris against Jamaica’s Lauren Semple, with the second after two minutes and six seconds securing the bronze medal.

She continued her good form earlier this year, claiming further bronze medals at the Tbilisi Grand Slam and Antalya Grand Slam.

Haecker was made the top seed for the Judo Grand Slam Astana during June, which sparked a flurry of interest among Australian sports bettors.

She delivered several winning returns for punters on the best betting sites by easing past three opponents on her way to the final. However, talented Korean youngster Kim Ji-Su upset the odds to scupper their hopes of another sizeable payout.

Despite that disappointment, Haecker will head to Paris next summer with a genuine chance of getting her hands on an elusive Olympic medal.

Her hopes have been boosted by the recent news that the Combat Institute of Australia (CombatAUS) will receive additional government funding to support the development of their athletes.

Australia’s Federal Minister for Sport, Anika Wells, recently a announced a one-off $20million fund to support national sports organisations in the run-up to Paris 2024. This will assist sports to deliver initiatives aimed at enhancing medal potential and performance next summer.

Geographical challenges make it difficult for Australian combat sports athletes to compete on the world stage, but the influx of cash will make a massive difference to their medal chances in France.

CombatAUS High Performance Director Andrew Pratley believes the funding could help Haecker and other top athletes shine at next summer’s Olympic Games.

“This additional investment will give our growing pool of medal potential athletes the best chance to maximise that potential in Paris,” Pratley said.

“It will give increased ability to send athletes to critical qualification events overseas and allow additional training camp and competition opportunities to be explored.”

With French officials recently putting the finishing touches to preparations for the judo tournaments by staging a test event in Paris, excitement is mounting in the sport worldwide.

The Grand Palais Ephemere, located at the foot of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, hosted the event which ran without any hitches.

Individual and mixed team competitions will take place on the two tatami installed on the Champ de Mars over the course of eight days.

Haecker and her fellow Australian judo teammates will hope the stunning backdrop will be the perfect place to showcase their talents to the world.

Haecker is the seeded player in pool D of the Grand Slam in Baku and will be in action on Saturday.