This morning, the Komazawa Olympic Park, Tokyo, was once again the scene of intense athletic battles. Yugra's own Ardashir Mumindzhanov brought us joy again. Having already won his first Games gold in the decathlon on November 18th, today he became a champion once more, this time in the pole vault, solidifying his absolute leadership in this discipline for all to see!

In the finals, our athlete competed against the world's strongest deaf track and field athletes, capable of clearing heights above four meters: the reigning 2022 Deaflympic champion, Japan's Hiroto Kitadani, whose result at the previous Games in Caxias do Sul (Brazil) was 4.20m, and Israel's representative, Adam Nurpeisov, who set a new world record for deaf athletes in 2024 at the Taipei World Championships — 4.55 meters.

In a no-holds-barred competition, Ardashir set a personal record by clearing 4 meters and 45 centimeters, thereby bringing our team its fifteenth gold medal. Congratulations to our now two-time Games champion, Ardashir Mumindzhanov, and his coaches — Olga Shimschieva and Alexander Skvortsov — on their brilliant performance at the Deaflympic Games!

Iuliia Abubiakirova won a silver medal in her signature 800-meter event, engaging in a sharp rivalry with Portuguese runner Esteves Mira da Silva M., who had previously lost to our Iuliia in the 1500-meter final. This time, a so-called "role reversal" occurred between the two top rivals, with Iuliia falling short by a mere 0.26 seconds. The parity remains for now, and most likely both of them face a tense final showdown in tomorrow's 5000-meter race as well. We'll keep our fingers crossed. Congratulations to Iuliia and her personal coach, Pavel Glushak, on the silver!

On the courts of the Ariake Coliseum, tennis players Polina Smirnova and Dmitry Dolzhenkov won a gold medal in the mixed doubles, securing a convincing victory over the Czech duo of Katerina Blashikova and Jaroslav Smedek with a score of 6:2, 6:0. This is the second gold medal of Polina's career — she won her first in Samsun (2017) in the same event. For Dmitry, this is his first medal!

But their achievements don't end there! The day after tomorrow, they will also compete for gold in the individual events, and tomorrow Dmitry, together with Vladislav Abramov, will play in the men's doubles final.

At the Tokyo Budokan-Karate palace, Moscow's Sergey Tetyushkin in his +84 kg weight category confidently defeated all his opponents one after another. In the final bout against Algeria's Hassani Yousif, our Sergey decisively overpowered his opponent with a score of 9:5, winning the gold medal and becoming a three-time Deaflympic Games champion (2013, 2017, 2025). This is an indisputable achievement, confirming his status as the continent's strongest karateka.

Meanwhile, at the Aquatics Center, yesterday's silver medalist, Stepan Skosyrskii, today in the 400-meter individual medley won a bronze medal with an excellent time of 4:37.98! Stepan just barely missed second place, losing in a fierce battle on the water to Polish athlete Konrad Powroznik by only a second. The champion in this race was Japan's Ryutaro Ibara.

Concluding the ninth competition day on the mats of the Nakano Sports School, another gold medal in the taekwondo discipline was won in the flyweight category up to 49 kg by Madina Satushieva!

Madina was placed in a subgroup with the reigning world champion and world vice-champion. In her first, very difficult match, she defeated an athlete fr om Mexico — the silver medalist of the last World Championships in Kyrgyzstan. In the second match, Madina faced an athlete from Croatia, the reigning world champion. A very strong and determined opponent, wh ere in a tough three-round battle, Madina snatched victory with a slight advantage. In the concluding final, our athlete, with a clear advantage in technical skill, left no chance for the representative fr om Uzbekistan, winning with a final score of 9:1. This is Madina's debut performance at the Summer Deaflympic Games and already the 18th gold medal for our team! We wholeheartedly congratulate the athlete and her coaches Timur Arslanbekov and Amir Akhmetov, as well as the entire coaching staff on the victory! Keep it up!

RESULTS

Athletics

Final. Women's 800m:

1. Esteves Mira da Silva M. (Portugal) 2:10.38

2. Iuliia Abubiakirova 2:10.64

3. Gao Na (China) 2:11.69

Pole Vault:

1. Ardashir Mumindzhanov 4m 45cm

2. Adam Nurpeisov (Israel) 4m 30cm

3. Hiroto Kitadani (Japan) 4m 10cm

Tennis

Schedule for November 24th

Tomorrow, our track and field athlete Iuliia Abubiakirova concludes her performance in the 5000-meter race. Let's wish her strength and stamina on this long-distance run!

In tennis, Vladislav Abramov and Dmitry Dolzhenkov will play in the men's doubles final, wh ere they will face the Germans in a battle for the gold medal.

Alexey Shemarov, who became a Games champion yesterday in Greco-Roman wrestling, will fight for gold, but this time in the freestyle wrestling discipline.

In taekwondo, Deaflympic silver medalist Shamil Isakov will compete in his weight category - 80 kg.

Also tomorrow, the mountain biking competitions for cyclists begin, which will last for two days. Swimmers continue their fight for medals. Let's cheer for our team!

Text: Nurlan Tazhigulov, Maria Mazhenina

Photos: Mikhail Sinitsyn, Boris Dvornikov, Anton Isaev, Andrey Khegay, Ilya Sarykin

Translation: Daria Kudelina