Maldonado shines again for Brazil at second day in Paris

The second day of judo competition at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games brought exciting contests across five categories, showcasing skill, determination, and emotional victories for athletes from around the world.

J2 -57 kg: Hirose Brings Japan's First Gold

In the J2 -57 kg category, Japan's Junko Hirose won her first Paralympic gold after a tactical fight against Uzbekistan's Kumushkhon Khodjaeva. Both judoka confidently eliminated their respective opponents, but Hirose secured the gold with a stunning ippon. Dayana Fedossova from Kazakhstan earned a bronze medal by countering Dondu Yesilyurt of Turkey twice, while Marta Arce Payno of Spain clinched her fourth Paralympic medal by defeating Lucia Da Silva Teixeira Araujo from Brazil with a makikomi for ippon.

J1 -73 kg: Bologa's Triumph for Romania

In the J1 -73 kg category, Florin-Alexandru Bologa from Romania captured gold after a series of intense matches, defeating Yergali Shamey of Kazakhstan in the final with a powerful seoi-otoshi for waza-ari. Bologa's calm under pressure proved decisive. Lennart Sass from Germany took bronze by defeating Shokhrukh Mamedov from Uzbekistan with a strong harai-goshi, and Djibrilo Iafa from Portugal secured the second bronze with an ippon-seoi-nage victory over Harlley Damiao Pereira Arruda from Brazil.

J1 -70 kg: China’s Li Liu Takes Gold

In the J1 -70 kg final, Li Liu from China won gold after a closely fought contest against Brenda Souza De Freitas of Brazil. Despite early penalties, Liu managed to pin Souza De Freitas in golden score to claim the title. Theodora Paschalidou from Greece dominated Turuunaa Lkhaijav of Mongolia with a waza-ari and hold-down to win bronze, while Nicolina Pernheim Goodrich from Sweden took the second bronze with two waza-ari scores against Merve Uslu Hajabipour of Turkey.

J2 -73 kg: Seto Shines for Japan

In the J2 -73 kg category, Yujiro Seto from Japan delivered a technical masterclass to claim Japan's second gold of the day. He defeated Giorgi Kaldani of Georgia with a seoi-otoshi and de-ashi-barai for waza-ari scores. Uchkun Kuranbaev from Uzbekistan secured one bronze by defeating Donghoon Kim from South Korea, while Osvaldas Bareikis from Lithuania claimed the other by overcoming Nathan Petit of France with a seoi-otoshi.

J2 -70 kg: Maldonado Secures Brazil’s Victory

Alana Martins Maldonado from Brazil concluded the day with a stellar performance in the J2 -70 kg final, defeating Yue Wang from China. Maldonado scored a first waza-ari and followed up with a sasae-tsuri-komi-ashi to win gold. Kelly Victorio from Brazil was defeated by Kazusa Ogawa of Japan, who scored two waza-aris to claim bronze, while Ina Kaldani from Georgia countered Ayala Mereke from Kazakhstan in golden score to win the second bronze medal.