Naomi Alejandra Soazo is a visually impaired Venezuelan judoka. She competed in a number of international events, such as the International Blind Sports Federation World Championships, but is best known for being the only Venezuelan, in any sport, to have won a gold medal at the Paralympic Games.
Jessica Gallagher is an Australian Paralympic alpine skier, track and field athlete, and tandem cyclist. She was Australia's second female Winter Paralympian, and the first Australian woman to win a medal at the Winter Paralympics at the 2010 Vancouver Games. She competed at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, where she won a bronze medal in the Women's Giant Slalom Visually Impaired.
Sam Ingram is a British Paralympic Judo competitor who represented the United Kingdom at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing and at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London.
The Japanese martial art Judo has been practised in Canada for nearly a century. The first Judo dojo in Canada, Tai Iku Dojo (体育道場), was established in Vancouver in 1924 by Shigetaka "Steve" Sasaki. Sasaki and his students opened several branch schools in British Columbia up until 1940, when all dojos were shut down by the government and their Japanese members forced into internment camps due to fears that Japanese-Canadians would act against Canada on behalf of Japan during the Second World War. After the War was over, the government encouraged internees to relocate, and many of Sasaki's students went on to establish their own dojos across Canada.
Tony Walby is a Canadian judoka represented Canada in Judo at the 2012 Paralympics in the +100 kg category and - 90kg division in the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio.. He won his first match, lost his second, and was then eliminated in repêchage.
Ben Quilter is a British paralympic judoka. He represented Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Paralympics and the 2012 Summer Paralympics.
Duygu Çete is a Turkish female visually impaired judoka competing in the -57 kg division. She won the bronze medal at the 2012 Paralympics.
The Judo competition of the 2016 Summer Paralympics will be held in Hall 3 at the Carioca Arena inside the Olympic Training Center in Barra cluster between 8 and 10 September. There shall again be 13 events, corresponding to seven weight classes for men and six for women, and a total of 132 athletes will compete. At the Paralympics, judo is contested by visually impaired athletes.
Christopher Skelley is a British Paralympic judoka who competes in the visually impaired under 100kg category. In 2016 it was announced that he has been selected to represent Great Britain at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio.
The IBSA European Judo Championships is an event organized by the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA). It is a judo competition for visually impaired athletes. Organised biennially, the competition is not run during years when the IBSA World Judo Championships or Summer Paralympics are contested.
Maryna Mikolaevna Cherniak is a Ukrainian judoka.
Ecem Taşın is a Turkish female visually impaired judoka competing in the -48 kg division. She is a student of sport management at Trakya University in Edirne, Turkey.
Mesme Taşbağ is a Turkish female visually impaired judoka competing in the heavyweight (+70 kg) division. She is a physician by profession.
Wang Lijing is a visually impaired Chinese judoka. She competed in the 52 or 57 kg division at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Paralympics and won a gold medal in 2008 and a silver in 2012. She placed third at the 2003 Fukuoka Tournament as a non-disabled athlete.
Lenia Fabiola Ruvalcaba Álvarez is a visually-impaired judoka from Mexico. Competing in the 70 kg division she won a silver medal at the 2008 Paralympics and a gold at the 2016 Rio Games. Ruvalcaba also took part in regular judo competitions and won a team bronze medal at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games. In 2011, she participated both at the Pan American and Parapan American Games.
Darren Harris is a dual Paralympian, and England's most capped and most decorated blind footballer. Outside of sports he is a number one bestselling author, motivational speaker and transformational coach.
Arina Kachan is a Belarusian judoka, who has been ranked number one in the world in the women's + 70 kg weight class. She has won multiple medals for her country at the IBSA World Games, IBSA European Judo Championships and the IBSA World Judo Championships.
Ivomira Mihaylova is a Bulgarian judoka who competes in the +70 kg and +78 kg weight classes internationally, winning multiple medals at the IBSA European Judo Championships.
Carmen Brussig is a German judoka who has won numerous tournaments including Paralympic and world championship gold.
Ramona Brussig is a German judoka and two-time gold medal winner in Paralympic competition. She was born in Leipzig with visual impairments meaning that she competes in B2 classification events. Brussig has an identical twin sister, Carmen Brussig, also a gold-medal-winning visually-impaired judoka, who was born 15 minutes before her. Brussig began training in 1986 at the age of nine and made her senior international debut in 1998 at the World Games in Madrid. Though her sister lives in Switzerland, the pair like to meet up and train together when they can. They say that they do not have a sense of rivalry as they compete in different weight classes.
