Hamburg's Miriam Butkereit wins World Cup bronze in Budapest!

Hamburg's Miriam Butkereit wins World Cup bronze in Budapest!

Miriam Butkereit caused a lot of joy and cheers because today the Hamburg native won a bronze medal in the category up to 70 kilograms at the Judo World Championships in Budapest. Her fight for the medal was exciting: she defeated the Australian Aoife Coughlan and thus secured her place on the podium of the best. Before this success, which represented Butkereit's first individual World Cup medal, she had to admit defeat to the eventual winner Shiho Tanaka from Japan in the quarterfinals. In the consolation round she showed her skills again and prevailed against Elisavet Teltsidou from Greece, as ndr.de reports.

The Judo World Championships in Hungary end on Friday, and Butkereit is not the only athlete shining for Germany. Mascha Ballhaus also secured bronze in the class up to 52 kilograms the previous Saturday. In addition, Alina Böhm, two-time European champion, will compete in the up to 78 kg class on Wednesday. The competitions are far from over and the German athletes are putting in a strong performance.

Judo – a popular martial art

The successes of Butkereit and her colleagues are part of a traditionally strong judo community in Germany. As is well known, judo is a Japanese martial art that is very popular not only worldwide, but also in Germany. The number of members in the German Judo Association has grown and was around 132,000 in 2024. This is a clear sign that judo is on the rise again after a low point of 116,000 members in 2021. There are currently 2,178 judo clubs in Germany that offer training opportunities for all age groups, from children aged three and over to special programs for seniors.

Judo has been part of the Olympic Games since 1964, and women's competitions have also been part of the program since 1988. Germany has so far won 43 Olympic medals in judo, including five gold medals, underlining the great tradition of this sport. Butkereit's recent silver sensation at the Paris Olympics has further fueled expectations for future competitions.

Tennis and other sporting events

But there wasn't just exciting news in judo today: there's also a lot happening in tennis. Tatjana Maria, the new German number one, will compete for the first time at the WTA tournament in Hamburg from July 13th to 20th. Her predecessor Eva Lys will also compete at Rothenbaum, which increases the excitement in German women's tennis. Maria recently won the final of the WTA 500 tournament at London's Queen's Club and is heading into the upcoming games with renewed confidence.

But there is also exciting news from the US Open in tennis: Alexander Zverev will compete in the mixed competition, together with the Swiss Belinda Bencic. The new mixed competition offers prize money of one million dollars for the winning couple. This not only promises exciting games, but also a good opportunity for Zverev and Bencic to assert themselves against well-known competitors.

FC Hansa Rostock and the third division dispute

Sports reporting wouldn't be complete without a look at what's happening in football. FC Hansa Rostock suffered a defeat at the DFB Federal Court. The lawsuit against the short-term cancellation of a third division game against SpVgg Unterhaching was considered inadmissible and rejected. The club regrets the additional costs incurred as a result of the postponement of the game and the additional work involved.

In summary, we are pleased about the successes of German athletes in various disciplines as well as about the existing challenges. Be it the Judo World Championships or the WTA tournament in Hamburg, sport in Germany remains exciting and diverse. The coming weeks could offer many more highlights.