Today, November 25th, on the final competition day of the 25th Summer Deaflympics in Tokyo, our athletes won five gold medals, as well as one silver and one bronze. An excellent finish! Let's take turns recounting the splendid victories of our athletes, who, despite all difficulties, achieved astonishing results!
Let's start with news fr om the mountain bikers. Early in the morning at the cycling sports center, the mountain bikers faced their final and most challenging test in the XCO (Cross-Country Olympic) discipline, raced on a 3.16-kilometer loop. Nearly 19 kilometers of a frenzied bike race over extremely rugged terrain, with alternating difficult climbs between stone boulders and rapid descents on narrow trails, wh ere 15 brave competitors vied with each other, pushing through 6 grueling laps at the limit of their strength and capabilities. In this truly "heroes' race," both yesterday's champion Anna Poretskova and Elizaveta Bavyikina, who had previously won a bronze medal in the marathon 50-kilometer road race, competed.
This time, Elizaveta excelled in this discipline. From the start, she immediately seized an undisputed lead and, with masterful tactics navigating all challenges, deservedly became the Deaflympics champion. Our winner's result: 1:26:13! Second place went to Ukrainian Elizaveta Topchanyuk (1:27:57), also a versatile athlete in both road cycling and mountain biking. Anna Poretskova won the bronze medal. Good work!
Among the men, in these extremely tough 25-kilometer trials (8 laps), two Alexeys, Kudrin and Bozhko, were in a class of their own. Riding in tandem, they left 30 competitors from various countries far behind. As in the previous race, the winner was the tireless Samara native Alexey Kudrin (1:27:22), with second place going to Kursk native Alexey Bozhko, who finished just 16 seconds later. American John Michael Klish "scratched out" the bronze with a gap of over a minute (1:28:29).
Meanwhile, on the central tennis courts of the Coliseum, our Dmitry Dolzhenkov and Polina Smirnova shone in their singles finals. Dmitry won his third gold medal of these Games, defeating Hungary's Máté Gábor with a score of 6:3; 6:3. This phenomenal performance confirms him as the world's strongest tennis player!
Polina Smirnova, who won a silver medal in singles in Samsun (2017), reached the final again eight years later against her "offender" from that match, filled with a thirst for revenge. In the decisive match, she defeated Germany's Heike Albrecht-Schröder with a score of 7:5; 6:2, becoming a three-time Deaflympic champion!
For statistics lovers, let's add: the leaders of our tennis team, Dmitry Dolzhenkov and Polina Smirnova, have for the first time in the history of Russian deaf sports won gold medals in the individual events of the Games!
As the day drew to a close, the final 29th gold medal for our team was secured at the aquatic sports palace! In the 200-meter butterfly swim, Stepan Skosyrsky, yesterday's champion in the 100-meter event, once again proved he is one of the strongest in this swimming discipline. Stepan Skosyrsky became a two-time champion of these Games! We believe this modest young man has a great future ahead!
In summary of the now concluded Games: our team won a total of 40 medals: 29 gold, 8 silver, and 3 bronze!
We wholeheartedly congratulate our athletes and their coaches on their brilliant performances! We are proud of you! We await your return home!
The 25th Summer Deaflympics in Tokyo-2025. Medals of Russia
Text: Nurlan Tazhigulov, Maria Mazhenina, Dmitry Timoshenko
Photos: Mikhail Sinitsyn, Valery Kobzarenko, Valery Vykhodtsev, Ilya Sarykin
Translation: Daria Kudelina
