| Lisa Kearney | |
| Nationality: | Northern Irish |
| Birth Date: | 2 May 1989 |
| Birth Place: | Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Height: | 1.57 m |
| Country: | Ireland |
| Weight Class: | –48 kg, –52 kg |
| Club: | Yamakwai Judo Club, Belfast |
| Coach: | Ciaran Ward |
| Worlds Rank: | R16 |
| Worlds Year: | 2011 |
| Worlds Weight: | Women's 48 kg |
| Regionals Type: | EU |
| Regionals Rank: | R16 |
| Regionals Year: | 2010 |
| Regionals Weight: | Women's 48 kg |
| Regionals Year2: | 2012 |
| Regionals Weight2: | Women's 48 kg |
| Regionals Year3: | 2013 |
| Regionals Weight3: | Women's 52 kg |
| Regionals Year4: | 2014 |
| Regionals Weight4: | Women's 52 kg |
| Olympics Rank: | R16 |
| Olympics Year: | 2012 |
| Olympics Weight: | Women's 48 kg |
| Commonwealth Rank: | 3 |
| Commonwealth Year: | 2014 |
| Commonwealth Weight: | Women's 52 kg |
| Updated: | 16 December 2022 |
Lisa Kearney (born 27 May 1989) is a Northern Irish retired judoka, who competed in the −48 kg category.[1] Kearney, who lives and trains in Belfast, competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London as a member of the Ireland Olympic team.[2]
Kearney started judo at primary school in order to join her friends.[3] Whilst still a child in 1999, she won silver in the −27 kg category of the Northern Ireland Judo Championships.[4] In 2009, she became the first judoka representing Ireland to reach the final of a Judo World Cup.[5] In 2012, she recovered from injury earned qualification for the Women's −48 kg judo at the 2012 Olympic Games in London by finishing in the top 14 in the International Judo Federation rankings.[3] [6] In doing so, she became the first female judoka representing Ireland to compete at the Olympics. However, she lost her opening match to Wu Shegun of China.[7] The national Irish public broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann was criticised for not featuring her match in their television coverage.[8] During 2013, she missed several events due to injury but got back into competing in preparation for the Commonwealth Games.[9] In 2014, Kearney represented Northern Ireland at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the Women's −52 kg category and won the bronze medal with an armbar submission of Canada's Audrée Francis-Méthot, which was also Northern Ireland's first medal of the games.[10]
She had aimed to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics but suffered a knee injury which ruled her out of the Olympics as she was unable to take part in the qualification tournaments.[11] She stepped out under the advice of the Sports Institute for Northern Ireland who oversaw her rehabilitation.[12] In 2017, she announced her retirement from competitive judo.[13] Kearney had won four World Cup gold medals.[14]
Kearney was born on 27 May 1989 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. She studied psychology as a student at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland.[2]