Personal information | |
---|---|
Born | 20 May 1977 |
Height | 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in) |
Weight | 52 kg (115 lb) |
Sport | |
Country | Germany |
Sport | Judo |
Club | PSV Schwerin |
Turned pro | 1998 |
Coached by | Carmen Bruckman |
Ramona Brussig (20 May 1977[1]) is a German judoka and two-time gold medal winner in Paralympic competition.
She was born in Leipzig with visual impairments meaning that she competes in B2 classification events.[2] Brussig has an identical twin sister, Carmen Brussig, also a gold medal-winning visually-impaired judoka, who was born 15 minutes before her.[3] Brussig began training in 1986 at the age of nine and made her senior international debut in 1998 at the World Games in Madrid.[2] Though her sister lives in Switzerland, the pair like to meet up and train together when they can. They say that they do not have a sense of rivalry as they compete in different weight classes.[4]
Brussig won gold in the under 57 kg weight class at the 2004 Games in Athens, her first Paralympic Games, against Spanish judoka Marta Arce Payno.[5] She then won silver four years later in Beijing, losing to Wang Lijing in the final.[6] Brussig and Wang both dropped down a weight class to under 52 kg for the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, meeting each other again in the final. This time Brussig was triumphant, going home with the gold.[7] Brussig defended her title at the Rio 2016 and finished as runner-up to French judoka Sandrine Martinet, earning her a silver medal.[8]
Through her career Brussig has won four world titles and six European titles.[1] She says that one of her most treasured memories was winning gold in London just 15 minutes after her twin sister achieved the same feat.[4] Both sisters are listed amongst the most promising German medal candidates for the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, resulting in them being given financial support in their endeavours.[9]
Brussig works for the sports association of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, a state in northern Germany.[10]