Maria Pekli (born 12 June 1972 in Baja, Hungary) is an Australian judoka of Hungarian descent. She was Australian Champion in the ‍–‍57 kg division for seven consecutive years, between 1997 and 2003.

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Maria Pekli

Personal information
Born	12 June 1972 (1972-06-12) (age 51) Baja, Hungary
Occupation	Judoka
Sport
Country	Hungary, Australia
Sport	Judo
Weight class	–57 kg
Rank	5th dan black belt[1]
Achievements and titles
Olympic Games	(2000)
World Champ.	5th (1993, 2003)
Regional finals	(1996) (2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008)
Commonwealth Games	(2002)
Medal record Women's judo Representing  Australia Olympic Games 2000 Sydney ‍–‍57 kg Oceania Championships 2000 Sydney ‍–‍57 kg 2002 Wellington ‍–‍57 kg 2003 Suva ‍–‍57 kg 2004 Nouméa ‍–‍57 kg 2008 Christchurch ‍–‍57 kg Commonwealth Games 2002 Manchester ‍–‍57 kg Representing  Hungary European Championships 1996 The Hague ‍–‍56 kg European Junior Championships 1989 Athens ‍–‍52 kg
Profile at external databases
IJF	15909
JudoInside.com	2710
Updated on 1 June 2023.

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She won a bronze medal in the lightweight (57 kg) division at the 2000 Summer Olympics,^[2] the first Australian woman to win an official Olympic Judo medal (although Suzanne Williams won a medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics when Women's Judo was a demonstration sport).

Along with Cuba's Driulys González and Japan's Ryoko Tamura-Tani, Pekli became in 2008 the first female judoka to compete at five Olympics. The only other judokas to compete at five Olympics are Belgian Robert Van de Walle and Puerto Rican judoka-bobsledder Jorge Bonnet.

In 2011, Pekli was awarded Life Membership of Judo Australia for her contribution to the sport at the Australian National Judo Championships.