Judoka Natalia Nikolaychik became the champion of the Paralympic Games for the first time.
Ukraine won another gold medal at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. Natalia Nikolaychik became the champion in judo in the weight category up to 48 kg (category J1).
In the final match, the Ukrainian defeated the Japanese Shizuki Haingai with a score of 11:0. This is the first medal of Ukraine in judo at the 2024 Paralympics.
On the way to the final, Nikolaychik defeated Emanuela Masura from Greece in the quarterfinals, and then overcame the Brazilian Rosicleide Silva de Andrade in the semifinals.
For Natalia, this is the third Paralympics in her career. At the 2012 London and 2020 Tokyo Games, she won bronze medals in the 52 kg weight category.
This is Ukraine's 15th gold medal at the current Paralympics and the first in eight years in judo at the Paralympic Games.
As of now, the Ukrainian team has 55 medals at the Paris Paralympics: 15 gold, 18 silver and 22 bronze.
Ukraine has risen to sixth place in the medal count and is fifth in the number of awards.
The Paris Paralympic Games will last until September 8. Ukraine is represented by 140 athletes competing in 17 sports. This is a record number of sports in the Paralympic history of Ukraine.
Recall that at the previous Summer Paralympic Games, which took place in 2021 in Tokyo, Ukrainian athletes won 98 awards: 24 gold, 47 silver and 27 bronze. With this result, Ukraine took sixth place in the medal count and became fifth in the number of awards.