Sarah Clark (born 3 January 1978) is a British judoka, who has competed at three Olympic Games.[1]
Clark came to prominence when winning the Scottish Championships in 1997. In 2000 and 2001 she won back to back half-middleweight British titles at the British Judo Championships.[2]
In 2004, she was selected to represent Great Britain at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece, she competed in the half-middleweight (-63 kg) category and reached the last 16, where she was beaten by the eventual silver medalist, Claudia Heill. She then lost to Ronda Rousey in the first round of the repechage.[3] Also during 2004 she won a bronze medal at the 2004 European Judo Championships, in Bucharest.[1]
Two more British titles were secured in 2005 and 2006[4] and she achieved her best result to date, which was a European gold medal at the 2006 European Judo Championships, in Tampere.[1]
In 2008, she went to her second Olympic Games, at the 2008 Summer Olympics, she again lost to Heill, this time in the first round[5] of the women's 63 kg. The following year in 2009, a silver medal at the 2009 European Judo Championships took her tally to a European medal of every colour. From 2008 to 2012 she secured three more British titles, bringing her total to seven.[4]
Clark ended her Olympic career on a high note by gaining selection for her home Olympic Games in London. Dropping down a weightclass, she competed in the women's 57 kg category, where she lost in the first round to Automne Pavia.[6][7][3]
In 2014, she won the gold medal in the 63kg for Scotland at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.