Craig Fallon
Fallon in 2008
Personal information
Birth nameCraig Patrick Fallon
NationalityBritish
Born(1982-12-18)18 December 1982
Ipswich, Suffolk, England
Died15 July 2019(2019-07-15) (aged 36)
Wellington, Shropshire, England
OccupationJudoka
Sport
SportJudo
Weight class–60 kg
Achievements and titles
Olympic Games7th (2008)
World Champ.Gold (2005)
European Champ.Gold (2006)
Medal record
Men's Judo
Representing  Great Britain
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2005 Cairo –60 kg
Silver medal – second place 2003 Osaka –60 kg
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2006 Tampere –60 kg
Silver medal – second place 2003 Düsseldorf –60 kg
European U23 Championships
Gold medal – first place 2004 Ljubljana –60 kg
European Junior Championships
Silver medal – second place 2001 Budapest –60 kg
Representing  England
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place2002 Manchester –60kg
Profile at external databases
IJF2835
JudoInside.com11412
Updated on 12 February 2022.

Craig Patrick Fallon (18 December 1982 – 15 July 2019)[1] was a British World Champion judoka.[2]

Career

His first main coach was Bill Kelly. Fallon later competed with his coach Fitzroy Davis. In 2002, he won the gold medal in the under 60kg category at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.[3]

In September 2005, Fallon won the -60 kg weight class at the World Judo Championships in Cairo, beating Ludwig Paischer in the final. He became only the third British male to win a world title, following Neil Adams in 1981 and Graeme Randall in 1999.[4] The following year in 2006, he went on to become European champion in Tampere, Finland in the -60 kg weight category beating Armen Nazaryan in the final. He is only the second male British judoka besides Neil Adams to simultaneously hold both a World and European title.

On 22 September 2007, Fallon went on to win The 2007 Men's World Cup in the -60 kg at the NIA Arena in Birmingham, he was the only Brit to win a medal at the Olympic ranking event. In 2011 Fallon won his third title at the British Judo Championships, having previously won in 2002 and 2008.[5]

In 2012, the former Wolverhampton Judo Club ace was inducted into the Wolverhampton Sporting Hall of Fame.[6]

In 2017, Fallon signed a contract as head coach of the Federal Judo Association of Vorarlberg, Austria.[7][8] In 2019, Fallon made the move to Welsh Judo Association to become Head of Coaching.[9]

Death

Fallon died on 15 July 2019. His body was found at the Wrekin, a beauty spot near Wellington in Shropshire.[10] No cause of death was given.[11] The coroner at the inquest judged that Fallon had died by suicide.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Obituary: Craig Fallon". Britishjudo.org.uk. 16 July 2019.
  2. ↑ "Craig Fallon profile". Judo Inside. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  3. ↑ Phillips, Michael (20 July 2004). "Fallon gets biggest kicks from chasing glory". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  4. ↑ "Fallon is crowned world champion". BBC Sport. 11 September 2005. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  5. ↑ "British Judo Championship Results 2003 to present". British Judo. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  6. ↑ "More sporting heroes prepare to enter city's Hall of Fame". Wolverhampton City Council. Archived from the original on 6 October 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  7. ↑ "Weltmeister Fallon hilft Judo auf die Sprünge". Vol.at. 11 May 2017.
  8. ↑ "Judo-Weltmeister Craig Fallon neuer Landestrainer". Judo Vorarlberg. 10 May 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  9. ↑ "Welsh Judo appoints Craig Fallon as Head of Coaching". Ijf.org.
  10. ↑ "British judo legend Craig Fallon dies at age of 36". judoinside.com.
  11. ↑ "Craig Fallon: Former world and European judo champion dies at 36". BBC Sport. 16 July 2019.
  12. ↑ Wilson, Jeremy (30 October 2019). "Coroner judges that former British Judo champion Craig Fallon killed himself". The Telegraph.
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