Naomi Soazo

Naomi Alejandra Soazo Boccardo[lower-alpha 1] (born 19 December 1988) is a visually impaired Venezuelan judoka.[1] 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.

Naomi Soazo
Soazo at the 2016 paralympics
Personal information
Full nameNaomi Alejandra Soazo Boccardo
NationalityVenezuelan
Born19 December 1988 (1988-12-19) (age 34)
EducationUniversidad Santa Maria, Caracas, Venezuela
Sport
CountryVenezuela
SportJudo
Medal record
Representing  Venezuela
Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing -63 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Rio de Janeiro -70 kg
Parapan American Games
Bronze medal – third place2015 Toronto-70kg

She made her Paralympic Games début at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, in the women's up to 63 kg category. Defeating Zhou Qian of China by ippon within less than a minute in her first match, she then defeated Sweden's Elvira Kivi by waza-ari-awasete-ippon in the semifinal. In the final, it took her just three seconds to defeat Spain's completely blind Marta Arce by ippon and win Venezuela's first ever Paralympic gold medal.[2][3][4]

At the 2012 Paralympics Soazo lost her first bout to the eventual gold medalist, but continued competing through repechage, and lost a bronze medal match to Daniele Bernardes Milan. At the 2016 Paralympics Soazo won a bronze medal in the 70 kg category.[5]

Notes
  1. In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Soazo and the second or maternal family name is Boccardo.

References
  1. Naomi Alejandra Soazo. judoinside.com
  2. "Soazo wins Venezuela's first Judo gold" Archived 23 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, 8 September 2008
  3. "Naomi Alejandra Soazo Boccardo". Paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee.
  4. Venezuela at the Paralympics, International Paralympic Committee
  5. "Naomi Soazo". Rio2016.com. Rio 2016 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 22 September 2016.
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