| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
Representing  United States | ||
| Women's judo | ||
| Pan American Games | ||
 | 2007 Rio de Janeiro | - 57 kg |
| Pan American Judo Championships | ||
 | 2005 Caguas | - 57 kg |
| 2007 Montreal | - 57 kg |
| 2008 Miami | - 57 kg |
 | 2006 Buenos Aires | - 57 kg |
Valerie Lafon-Gotay (born November 5, 1973, in San Diego, California) is a former judoka from the United States.
Gotay was born in San Diego. Her grandfather Piere Lafon and father Gerald Lafon [1] are former judoplayers so she had good background for judo from youth. She began competing at age of 14.
At 18 years old, Gotay was supposed to compete in the 1992 Olympic Games in extra-lightweight category. Unfortunately, after working hard to lose some kilos to make her weight category, she became extremely sick with uncontrollable and violent muscle contractions which forced her to withdraw from the competition.
She decided to stop competing after Barcelona.
Gotay later married and has two children Breanna (1996) and Isabella (2001).
In 2004, she came out of retirement. "I missed the training," Gotay said. "I'm a pretty intense person. I love training. I missed training for something, having a goal and working toward it. I came back not even knowing I was coming back." [2]
She was invited to compete in the British Open and in 2007 was part of the United States team at the Pan American Games. [3]
At the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, she was eliminated in the second round by Isabel Fernández from Spain. Gotay went to Beijing with big (medal) ambitions, but it was not a very good tournament for her. She had already had problems in first round with Gulzat Uralbayeva from Kazakhstan. With three minutes left, she got a second chance, because the Kazakh judoka scored only wazaari, rather than ippon. After this score, the young Kazakh judoka became very passive. Gotay took advantage of this passivity and won by ippon with one minute remaining. [4]
| Year | Tournament | Place | Weight class |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Olympic Games | DNS | Extra-Lightweight (- 48 kg) |
| 1996 | Olympic Games | DNS | - |
| 2000 | Olympic Games | DNS | - |
| 2004 | Olympic Games | DNS | - |
| 2008 | Olympic Games | 15th | Lightweight (- 57 kg) |
| Year | Tournament | Place | Weight class |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Pan American Games | 2nd | Lightweight (- 57 kg) |
| Year | Tournament | Place | Weight class |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Pan American Judo Championships | 1st | Lightweight (- 57 kg) |
| 2006 | Pan American Judo Championships | 3rd | Lightweight (- 57 kg) |
| 2007 | Pan American Judo Championships | 1st | Lightweight (- 57 kg) |
| 2008 | Pan American Judo Championships | 1st | Lightweight (- 57 kg) |
American Samoa sent a team to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The U.S. territory selected four athletes to compete in three sports: swimming, athletics and judo. The dependency's participation in Beijing marked its seventh participation in any Olympic game since its debut at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, and its sixth participation at any Summer Olympic games. Of the four American Samoan athletes who participated in Beijing, all four were first-time Olympians and born outside American Samoa and none of the four advanced past the qualification or preliminary rounds of their events. More women participated in the 2008 American Samoan Olympic delegation than in any one delegation in its Olympic history. Judoka Silulu A'etonu was the territory's flagbearer at the ceremonies.
Karina Bryant is a British retired elite judoka, who was active in elite senior competition in the 2000s and early 2010s. She represented Great Britain at four successive Olympics between 2000 and 2012, winning her first Olympic medal, a bronze, in the heavyweight event at her final Games, the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She was a seven-time medallist at both the European Judo Championships and the World Judo Championships, and was European Champion on four occasions.
Mayra Aguiar da Silva is a Brazilian judoka. She was a bronze medallist in three consecutive Olympics, 2012, 2016 and 2020. She is also three-time world champion. She is the first Brazilian woman to win three Olympic medals in an individual sport.
Idalys Ortiz Bocourt is a Cuban judoka. She competed in the over 78 kg division at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympics and won a medal on each occasion. She won the silver medal in the women's +78 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan.
Catherine Jacques is a Belgian judoka who competed in the middleweight category (70 kg). She is a multiple-time national champion, and a four-time bronze medalist for her category at the European Judo Championships. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Jacques missed out of the Olympic podium in the women's 70 kg category, after she was defeated by Germany's Annett Böhm, who scored an ippon within thirty-eight seconds, in the bronze medal match. She was able to fight back against her opponent for a rematch to capture the bronze medal, this time at the 2005 World Judo Championships in Cairo, Egypt.
Wang Chin-Fang is a Taiwanese judoka, who competed for the light middleweight category at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She is a two-time defending champion for her category at the 2007 Summer Universiade in Bangkok, Thailand, and at the 2009 Summer Universiade in Belgrade, Serbia. She also won two medals each at the Asian Games and at the Asian Judo Championships.
Vivian Aminu Yusuf is a Nigerian judoka, who played for the half-heavyweight category. She won two silver medals at the 2007 All-Africa Games in Algiers, Algeria, and at the 2008 African Judo Championships in Agadir, Morocco, both losing out to Tunisia's Houda Miled in the final match.
Esther San Miguel Busto is a Spanish judoka. She has won six national titles and two European titles for the half-heavyweight division (78 kg). She is also a bronze medalist at the 2003 World Judo Championships in Osaka, Japan, and has captured a total of twenty-seven World Cup medals, including eight golds. San Miguel is a member of Centro de Alto Rendimiento Madrid Judo Club, and is coached by Sacramento Moyano.
Lila Latrous is an Algerian judoka, who played for the lightweight category. She is a four-time champion at the African Judo Championships, and a bronze medalist at the 2009 Mediterranean Games in Pescara, Italy. She also won a gold medal in the same division at the 2007 All-Africa Games in Algiers.
Zhanar Zhanzunova is a Kazakhstani judoka, who played for the middleweight category. She won a silver medal for her division at the 2007 Asian Judo Championships in Kuwait City, Kuwait, and bronze at the 2008 Asian Judo Championships in Jeju City, South Korea.
Gulzat Uralbayeva is a Kazakhstani judoka, who played for the lightweight category. At age eighteen, Uralbayeva became the youngest judoka to represent Kazakhstan for the 2008 Summer Olympics, where she competed in the women's lightweight class (57 kg). She lost the first preliminary match to United States' Valerie Gotay, who successfully scored an ippon and a te gatame, at one minute and forty-six seconds.
Sagat Abikeyeva is a Kazakhstani judoka, who played for the half-heavyweight category. She is also a three-time medalist for her division at the Asian Judo Championships.
Nesria Al-Jelassi is a Tunisian judoka, who played for the lightweight category. She is a two-time Tunisian judo champion, and a four-time medalist for the 57 and 63 kg classes at the African Judo Championships. She also won a gold medal at the 2011 All-Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique, and silver at the 2007 All-Africa Games in Algiers, Algeria.
Franklin Amadeo Cisneros Duarte was a Salvadoran judoka, who played for the half-middleweight category. He won a bronze medal for his division at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Stephanie Grant is an Australian judoka, who played for the half-heavyweight category. She is a member of the University of Tasmania Judo Club, under her personal coach Milos Kovacik, and has twice been the Australian judo champion,.
Orkhan Safarov is an Azerbaijani judoka. He won a bronze at the 2013 World Judo Championships in the –60 kg category.
Danielle Zangrando is a retired Brazilian judoka who competed in the women's lightweight category. She picked up a total of thirty medals in her career, including three from the Pan American Games, and a bronze from the 1995 World Judo Championships in Chiba, Japan, and also appeared in the 57-kg class in two editions of the Olympic Games. Growing up in Santos, Zangrando took up judo at the age of 5 following her brother to the dojo of sensei Paulo Duarte. Throughout most of her sporting career, Zangrando trained under Duarte as a full-fledged member of the judo squad for Santos FC Judô.
Tatyana Nikolayevna Shishkina is a Russian-born Kazakhstani judoka, who competed in the women's extra-lightweight category. Holding a dual citizenship to compete internationally, she earned a bronze medal in the 48-kg division at the 2004 Asian Judo Championships in Almaty, and represented her naturalized nation Kazakhstan at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Varvara Gennadyevna Masyagina is a Kazakh judoka, who competed in the women's half-heavyweight category. She picked up five medals in her career, including two silvers each from the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand and the 2003 Asian Judo Championships in Jeju City, South Korea, and later represented her nation Kazakhstan at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Bazarbek Orynbayuly Donbay is a Kazakh judoka, who competed in the men's extra-lightweight category. He held three Kazakhstan senior titles in his own division, picked up a total of twelve medals in his career, including a silver from the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea, and a gold from the 2004 Asian Judo Championships in Almaty, and represented his nation Kazakhstan in two editions of the Olympic Games.
