Mexican Prisca Awiti thrilled her nation’s judo community and made Olympics history on Tuesday by winning a silver medal in the 2024 Olympic Games Women’s Judo competition.
Members of Mexican dojos around the capital flocked to the iconic Angel of Independence Monument in Mexico City to celebrate Awiti, who took her silver medal at the Paris Games in the 63 kg category.
La emoción de Vanessa Zambotti representa la de millones de mexicanos. Prisca Awiti acaba de hacer historia en el Judo, le acaba de otorgar la primera medalla a México en esta disciplina y va por el oro.
¡Si se puede!#Judo #PriscaAwiti #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/gp2OZrKpO5
— Iván Estrada (@Estradamyers) July 30, 2024
Awiti’s initial point awarded in the semifinals against Croatia’s Katarina Kristo. Awiti’s performance in the match awarded her a silver medal, Mexico’s first ever in judo.
Awiti’s stunning performance earned Mexico its 75th Olympic medal in history and its first ever in judo. The 28-year-old, born in London to a Kenyan father and a Mexican mother, was ranked No. 18 in the world.
The silver medalist came up short in the finals against world-ranked No. 7 Andreja Leski of Slovenia, getting pinned just outside the mat while in the lead.
The Mexican judoka — the term for a person who practices judo — breezed through the Olympics’ early stages, defeating by ippon Afghani Nigara Shaheen — a member of the Refugee Olympic team — in their match’s first 30 seconds.
Ippon is the highest score a fighter can achieve in judo, awarded for a throw, a pin, a choke or a joint-lock.
In the round of 16, Awiti defeated Poland’s Angelika Szymanska — ranked No. 4 in the world — winning with a waza-ari, the second highest possible score. It’s awarded after an action in which either the opponent is thrown with control and accuracy, is held on his/her back for 10–15 seconds or taps out to avoid injury.
Awiti earned the waza-ari with an arm lock.
The Mexican soon-to-be silver medalist then went on to defeat Austria’s Lubjlana Piovesan in the quarterfinals, scoring a “golden point” in overtime after the contest ended 0-0 in regulation time.
In the semifinals, Awiti earned silver by defeating Croatian judoka Katarina Kristo, suffocating her from the outset. Awiti gave no respite to her young opponent, defeating her with an ippon and a waza-ari by the first three minutes and 11 seconds of the match.
In the Olympic final, hoping for a gold medal, Awiti took an early lead against Levski — the reigning World Judo Championships silver medalist — with a move known as a tomoe-nage (in which the attacker falls backward and tries to flip the opponent over by using a foot to the midsection). However, Levski managed to avoid being flipped onto her back, and Awiti only earned a waza-ari.
Minutes later, Levski caught Awiti off guard, spun her to the floor and pinned her to the mat for 10 seconds, earning gold with an ippon.
Awiti’s performance at this year’s Olympics is a huge leap for the Mexican judoka — who began competing for Mexico in 2017. When she competed with the nation’s 2020 Olympic team in Tokyo, she lost in the first round.
Her silver medal Tuesday is Mexico’s second Paris Games medal, following the women’s archery team’s bronze win on Sunday.
With reports from Milenio, El Universal and BeIn Sports
