Turkmen judoka Maysa Pardayeva has won bronze and gold medals at two prestigious tournaments organised by the International Judo Federation (IJF), making a successful start to the Olympic qualification cycle for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles. This was reported by the news agency ‘Turkmenistan: Golden age’.

At the ‘Ulaanbaatar Grand Slam 2026’ tournament in Mongolia, the 21-year-old athlete took bronze in the under-57kg weight category. On her way to the medal, she defeated Kazakhstan’s Dana Abdirova, the 2024 world champion and 2024 Olympic silver medallist Huh Mi-mi from the Republic of Korea, as well as the 2022 European champion Timna Nelson Levy from Israel. In the semi-final, Pardayeva lost to the eventual winner, Akari Omori from Japan, but went on to defeat France’s Faiza Mokdar in the bronze medal match.

At the next tournament — the ‘Qingdao Grand Prix 2026’ in China — the Turkmen athlete won the gold medal. During the competition, she won six bouts, defeating opponents from China, Kosovo, Brazil, Spain, Japan and France. In the semi-final, Maysa proved stronger than five-time Grand Slam winner Momo Tamaoki, and in the final she defeated France’s Martha Fawaz.

According to the athlete, her victory at the Grand Prix tournament marked the fulfilment of a long-held goal and provided her with additional motivation in her bid to qualify for the 2028 Olympic Games.

Following the two tournaments, Maysa Pardayeva earned 1,200 IJF ranking points – 500 for her bronze medal in Mongolia and 700 for her victory in China. Both competitions were the first stages of qualification for the 2028 Olympics.

Previously, the Turkmen judoka had won the Junior Asian Cup, taken silver at the European Cup and won bronze at the Asian Games. Her successful performances at the IJF tournaments have strengthened her position in the world rankings and boosted her chances of competing at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles.