The Cuban judokas Sheyla Hernández (+70kg) and Yordani Fernández (+90kg) were the only ones to break the Brazilian hegemony in the Judo competition of the Para PanAmerican Games – Santiago 2023.

All six other gold medals were conquered by Brazilian judokas, four of them on Day 1, the other two today on Day 2, and the last of the Judo tournament.

This achievement is worth noting because both Cuban judokas had to play in the final against, of course, Brazilian opponents. In the men’s +90kg category, Yordani Fernández is 5th on the World Ranking List of the J2 category, while the Brazilian Wilians Araújo is leading the World Ranking List in the J1 category.

In the women’s fight, Sheyla Hernández and Meg Emmerich are in the same class (J2) but separated by one single position in the World Ranking List, 5th and 4th, respectively. You can follow the story of the Cuban judoka here.

As for the rest, Brazil ruled. Like on Day 1, there were also some finals, with two Brazilian judokas fighting for gold.

Fun fact: in the middle of so many gold medals in this Para PanAmerican Games – Santiago 2023 for Brazil, its 100th medal conquered was… a bronze one. Rebeca Silva (+70kg) stood on the same podium as her countrywoman Meg Emmerich, in one of the two categories in Judo where Brazil lost, honouring the two Cuban diamonds among the Brazilian gold.

Check out the results of the day, dedicated to the so-called heavyweight categories:

Men
J1/J2 -90kg
1st – Marcelo Azevedo (BRA)
2nd – Arthur Cavalcante (BRA)
3rd – Benjamin Goodrich (USA)
3rd – Richard Ties (USA)

J1/J2 +90kg
1st – Yordani Fernández (CUB)
2nd – Wilians Araújo (BRA)
3rd – Cristian Alderete (ARG)
3rd – Sergio Fernandes (BRA)

Women
J1/J2 -70kg
1st – Brenda Souza de Freitas (BRA)
2nd – Nadia Boggiano (ARG)
3rd – Ariagna Hechevarria (CUB)

J1/J2 +70kg
1st – Sheyla Hernández (CUB)
2nd – Meg Emmerich (BRA)
3rd – Katie Davies (USA)
3rd – Rebeca Silva (BRA)