Portuguese judoka Joana Santos secured her second consecutive Deaflympics gold medal in the -57 kg category, further cementing her legacy with a fifth career medal at the games.
Her victory at the Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics revalidated her title from the 2021 Games, which were held in Caxias do Sul, Brazil, in 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 35-year-old athlete defeated Turkey’s Buse Tiras in the final match, winning in golden score.
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Santos’s path to the final included a semifinal win against Venezuela’s Mayerlyn Barreto Rodrigues, also decided by golden score. In the quarterfinals, she defeated South Korea’s Eujni Seo by ippon.
Her five Deaflympics medals span multiple events and weight categories throughout her career.
She previously won a gold medal in the -63 kg category at the Taipei 2009 Deaflympics.
Her other medals include a silver at Sofia 2013 and a bronze at Samsun 2017, both also in the -63 kg division.
<img src="https://www.Blaze Trends/images/imagens/681711.jpg?v=202405041935" alt="Joana Santos now has five medals at the Deaflympics" width="100%" height="auto">
This latest gold marks the 18th medal for Portugal in the history of the Deaflympics.
It is Portugal’s ninth participation in the event, which first began in 1924.
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The Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics gathered approximately 3,000 hearing-impaired athletes for the competition.
The games are scheduled to conclude on November 26.
Portugal’s 13-member delegation is competing across five sports: athletics, cycling, judo, swimming, and shooting.