Marti Malloy kisses her gold medal medal during the medal ceremony for the women's judo -57 kg. class at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games on July 12, 2015 in Toronto.
TORONTO -- Marti Malloy won the women’s -57 kg. judo gold medal by yuko Sunday at the Mississauga Sports Center in Toronto.
The 2012 Olympic bronze medalist now adds a Pan American Games medal to her already impressive resume, which also includes world championships silver from 2013.
“I feel confident; I’ve been taking medals at some of the hardest competitions in the world,” Malloy said. “I’ve also lost at some of them, so I know that just me being on top of my game, being completely in the zone is what’s going to help me when it comes to Rio.”
So far this season, Malloy earned gold at the Pan American Championships in April, silver at the grand prix in May and bronze at the grand prix in June.
Malloy defeated Canadian Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard while Brazilian Rafaela Silva and Cuban Aliuska Ojeda captured bronze medals.
Winning on the world stage is nothing new to Malloy, but having the Pan American Games bring an Olympic-like atmosphere has helped prepare her for the world championships in August and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, where she hopes to improve upon her bronze medal from London.
“The Pan Am Games are like a mini-Olympics,” Malloy said. “So with Rio a year away, coming here, doing well is a way to practice a scenario of a really big crowd and high stakes and trying to do well, get ready for Rio.”
“I had a really great time. It’s nice having a crowd that’s excited about the sport. That was awesome.”
