Portuguese athlete Margarida Silva secured a historic gold medal in the 800 meters at the Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics, setting a new Games record and becoming her nation’s first-ever athletics champion in the competition.
Silva completed the race this Sunday in 2 minutes, 10.38 seconds. This time broke the previous Deaflympics record of 2 minutes, 10.50 seconds.
She outpaced Russia’s Iuliia Abubiakirova, who competed under a neutral flag and finished second with a time of 2 minutes, 10.64 seconds. China’s Na Gao took the bronze medal, completing the event in 2 minutes, 11.69 seconds.
This gold medal marks Silva’s second podium finish at the current Games. She previously earned a silver medal in the 1,500 meters event.
Her achievement brings Portugal’s total medal count at the competition to five.
The other Portuguese medalists include judoka Joana Santos, who won gold in the -57kg category. Cyclist André Soares contributed two medals: a silver in the individual time trial and a bronze in the points race.
The Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics are scheduled to continue until July 26.