Gefen Primo

Gefen Primo (גפן פרימו; born March 26, 2000) is an Israeli judoka. She competes in the under 52 kg weight category. In 2017 she was the European Youth Olympic Champion. She won bronze medals in the 2018 European Judo Championships, 2021 World Judo Championships, 2021 European Judo Championships, and 2022 World Judo Championships. Primo will represent Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris in judo in the women's 52 kg on 28 July 2024, and in the mixed team event.

Early life
Primo was born in moshav Gan HaShomron, Israel, and is Jewish. Her mother Meirav Primo is a board member of the Israel Judo Association since 2016. Her younger brother Einav Primo and her younger sister Kerem Primo are both judokas as well; Kerem won the silver medal in the 2021 Junior World Championships, gold medals in the 2021 Junior European and Cadet European championships, and the 2022 European Youth Olympics Championship. As of 2015, she moved with her family to moshav Kfar Netter, Israel, to be closer to the judo trainings at the Wingate Institute in the city of Netanya, Israel.

She was enlisted as a soldier in the Israeli Air Force in 2019, which designated her to an excellent sportsperson status.

2015–17; European Youth Olympic Champion
Primo won the gold medal in the 2015 Israeli U18 Championships in Ra'anana.

At the 2016 European Cup U21 Athens she won the bronze medal. Primo won gold medals in the 2016 European Cup Cadets Coimbra, 2016 European Cup Cadets Zagreb, and 2016 European Cup Cadets Antalya. She won the gold medal in the 2016 Israeli U21 Championships in Ra'anana.

In 2017, Primo won the gold medal at the European Youth Summer Olympic Festival in Hungary,   won the silver medal at the under-18 European championships in Kaunas,   and won the bronze medal in the under-21 European championships in Maribor, Slovenia. She won the gold medal in the 2017 European Cup Cadets in Coimbra. She won the silver medal in the 2017 European Cup U21 Athens. She won a bronze medal in the 2017 Israeli Championships in Ra'anana.

2018–20; World junior championships silver medal
On 3 February 2018, Primo competed at her first international senior competition at the 'Odivelas European Open' in Portugal and won a bronze medal. On 9 March, she won her first IJF World Tour medal when she won a bronze medal at the 2018 Agadir Grand Prix.

On 26 April 2018, Primo competed in the European Championships in Tel Aviv and won a bronze medal in the under 52 kg weight category, becoming the youngest Israeli judoka to win a European championships medal. In the first round she defeated Sofia Asvesta of Cyprus by waza-ari and ippon, in the second round she defeated Charline Van Snick of Belgium by ippon. In the quarter-finals she lost to Evelyne Tschopp of Switzerland. She went on to defeat Anja Stangar of Slovenia in the repechage and reached the bronze medal match where she defeated Irem Korkmaz of Turkey by two waza-ari after her opponent scored one.

On 18 October 2018, Primo won the silver medal at the 2018 World Junior Championships in Nassau.

Primo won the gold medal in the 2019 Judo Grand Prix Montreal, and bronze medals in 2019 Judo Grand Prix Marrakesh, 2019 Judo Grand Slam Baku, 2019 Judo Grand Prix Hohhot, and 2019 Judo Grand Prix Tashkent. She won the gold medal in the 2019 Israeli Championships in Tel Aviv.

2021–present; World championships bronze medal
At the 2021 World Judo Championships in Budapest, Primo won a bronze medal. At the 2021 European Judo Championships she also won a bronze medal. She won the gold medal at the 2021 Judo Grand Slam Paris. At the 2021 Judo Grand Slam Abu Dhabi held in the United Arab Emirates, she won one of the bronze medals in her event.

Primo won bronze medals at 2022 Judo Grand Slam Budapest, 2022 Judo Grand Prix Zagreb, and 2022 Judo Grand Slam Abu Dhabi, and in mixed teams at the 2022 World Judo Championships.

She won a gold medal at the 2023 Judo Grand Slam Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia, and bronze medals at 2023 Judo Grand Slam Paris, 2023 Judo Grand Slam Tokyo, and 2023 Judo World Masters in Budapest. Primo won the gold medal in the 2023 Israeli Championships in Eilat.

Primo won the gold medal at 2024 Judo Grand Slam Astana in Kazakhstan.

2024 Paris Olympics
Primo will represent Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris in judo in the women's 52 kg on 28 July 2024, and in the mixed team event.

Titles
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