Maureen Braziel

She won the silver medal heavyweight in the 1971 British Open, and bronze in the open division.[4] She was the first female to place in international competition in Judo.[4] As a result, helped to make women's Judo a sport under the Amateur Athletic Union.[1] Maureen was the women's US National 1st-place winner for the heavyweight division and the grand champion for the years 1974, 1975, and 1976.[5]
At a competition weight of 180 lbs, Maureen was strong enough to compete with men.[6] She defeated Diane Pierce in 1974 for the national championship.[6] Diane Pierce would later appear on the show To Tell The Truth claiming to be the 1974 National Judo Champion.[6] Maureen won the gold medal in the 1975 Judo International championship for the heavyweight division in Switzerland.[4] She was the undisputed US Heavyweight Champion on the East Coast from 1967 to 1977.[7] In 1976 she was part of the US Women's National Team under her friend [8] and team coach Rusty Kanokogi[4] She placed second in 1977, 1979 and 1980 for the Women's US Nationals[9] She was the Amateur Athletic Union Most Outstanding Player Award in 1974 [1]

In 2021, she was inducted into the United States Judo Federation's Hall of Fame [10]

Following competition she founded the PolyTech Judo Club.[7] She served as the head coach for the Poly Tech Judo Club.[11] She would later serve as athletic director at Poly Tech.[12] Even later she would serve as the athletic director for NYU-Poly.[13] She would later retire after 30 years at NYU.[13] She served as the secretary for NYS Judo (circa 2009).[14]