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| Sonya Chervonsky | |
| Fullname: | Sonya Chervonsky |
| Sport: | Judo |
| Event: | 48 kg |
| Club: | University of New South Wales |
| Coach: | Warren Rosser |
| Residence: | Sydney, Australia |
| Birth Date: | 15 June 1983 |
| Birth Place: | Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Weight: | 480NaN0 |
| Show-Medals: | yes |
Sonya Chervonsky (born 15 June 1983 in Moscow, Russian SFSR) is an Australian judoka, who competed in the women's extra-lightweight category.[1] Chervonsky captured two Australian titles in her own division, picked up a total of eighteen medals in her career, including two golds from the Oceania Championships, and represented Australia at the 2004 Summer Olympics.[2] Until her retirement from the sport in 2012, Chervonsky remained a member of the University of New South Wales' judo squad under head coach and sensei Warren Rosser and high performance coach John Buckley.[3]
Chervonsky qualified for the Australian squad, as a 21-year-old, in the women's extra-lightweight class (48 kg) at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, by topping the field of judoka and receiving a berth from the Oceania Championships in Noumea, New Caledonia.[4] [5] [6] She lost her opening match to French judoka and eventual silver medalist Frédérique Jossinet, who successfully scored a waza-ari awasete ippon and clutched her on the tatami with a kata gatame (shoulder hold) at one minute and thirty-four seconds.[7] In the repechage, Chervonsky gave herself a chance for an Olympic bronze medal, but slipped it away in a defeat to two-time Olympic judoka Tatiana Moskvina of Belarus by an ippon and a tomoe nage (circle throw) within a minute into their first playoff of the draft.[8]
Chervonsky sought her bid for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, but failed to forge a slot to the Australian team upon losing the final to Kristie-Anne Ryder in the 52-kg division at the Oceania Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand.[9] Following her retirement from judo in 2012, Chervonsky volunteered as a "big sister" for the Life Changing Experiences Foundation (LCEF), an organization that aims to help hundreds of young women facing devastating issues occurred in the contemporary society.[10] She has since pursued further tertiary studies and works in health.