Daniela Krukower

Daniela Yael Krukower (; born 6 January 1975 in Colegiales, Buenos Aires ) is a former judoka from Argentina.

Biography Krukower was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina to a Jewish family, and at an early age moved with her family to Israel where Daniela was introduced to judo. In the mid 90s Israel judo had two promising female judoka, Einat Yaron and Daniela, both competing in the 63 kg category. The two girls were more rivals than they were friends. Daniela thought Yaron was favoured by the Israel Judo Association and since the International Judo Federation limits each country to one participant in each category at the Olympic Games she decided to represent her birth country Argentina.

Krukower retired at beginning of 2009/10 season due to lack of motivation after winning gold at 2009 Pan American Championships.

Judo In 1997, Krukower won a silver medal in judo at U66 at the 1997 Maccabiah Games in Tel Aviv, Israel.

The highlight of Krukower's career came at the 2003 World Championships in Osaka. In the final she beat, by ippon, Cuban Olympic gold medalist Driulis González. She was not considered a favorite before the championships, but was a known competitor. After her win, Krukower became a celebrity in Argentina and a medal hope for the Olympic Games the following year.

Unlike at the World Championships in Osaka, at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens Krukower came as big favourite. She won her first two fights by golden score and in the semi-final she faced Ayumi Tanimoto from Japan. Early in the fight, following a technique by the Japanese judoka, Krukower broke her hand. The extent of the injury was serious and Krukower could not continue in tournament. Driulis González her next potential opponent won the bronze medal without a fight. In result of the injury the Argentine media call Krukower "Iron Lady".

Krukower went on to compete but managed only continental successes.

In the judo competition at the 2005 Maccabiah Games, Krukower won a silver medal when 17-year-old Alice Schlesinger defeated her in the final.

Achievements Summer Olympics Year Place Weight class 2000 9th Middleweight (70 kg) 2004 5th Half-Middleweight (63 kg) 2008 9th Half-Middleweight (63 kg)

World Championships Year Place Weight class 1997 AC Middleweight (66 kg) 2001 DNS 2003 1st Half-Middleweight (63 kg) 2005 AC Half-Middleweight (63 kg) 2007 9th Half-Middleweight (63 kg)

Pan American Games Year Place Weight class 2003 3rd Half-Middleweight (63 kg) 2007 3rd Half-Middleweight (63 kg)

Pan American Championships Year Place Weight class 2005 3rd Half-Middleweight (63 kg) 2006 3rd Half-Middleweight (63 kg) 2007 2nd Half-Middleweight (63 kg) 2008 3rd Half-Middleweight (63 kg) 2009 1st Half-Middleweight (63 kg)

South American Games Year Place Weight class 2002 2nd Half-Middleweight (63 kg) 2006 1st Half-Middleweight (63 kg)