Nationality Madagascar Event(s) 52 kg Sport Judo | Weight 52 kg (115 lb) Height 1.55 m (5 ft 1 in) Name Naina Ravaoarisoa | |
Full name Naina Cecilia Ravaoarisoa Born 29 July 1976 (age 47) ( 1976-07-29 ) Antananarivo, Madagascar | ||
Naina Cécilia Ravaoarisoa (born July 29, 1976 in Antananarivo) is a Malagasy judoka who competed in the women's half-lightweight category. She picked up a total of six medals in her career, including a bronze from the 1999 All-Africa Games in Johannesburg, South Africa, and represented her nation Madagascar in two editions of the Olympic Games (2000 and 2004).
Ravaoarisoa made her official debut at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where she competed in the women's half-lightweight class (52 kg). She lost her opening match to Chinese Taipei's Shih Pei-chun, who successfully scored an ippon victory and crippled her in a scarf hold (kesa gatame) on the tatami with only ninety seconds remaining in the five-minute bout.
At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Ravaoarisoa qualified as a lone judoka for her second Malagasy squad in the women's half-lightweight class (52 kg), by placing second and granting a berth from the African Championships in Tunis, Tunisia. Like her previous Olympics, Ravaoarisoa denied her chance to edge past the opening round and to compete in the repechage, after crashing out early in a defeat to Belgian judoka and eventual bronze medalist Ilse Heylen by a waza-ari awasete ippon point and a powerful deashi harai throw (advanced foot sweep) just thirty-four seconds into their match.