Dalidaivis Rodríguez

Dalidaivis Rodriguez Clark

Personal information
National team	Cuba
Sport
Country	Cuba
Sport	Judo
Weight class	63 kilograms (139 lb)
Medal record Women's judo Representing Cuba Parapan American Games 2011 Guadalajara 63 kg 2015 Toronto 63 kg Summer Paralympics 2012 London 63 kg 2016 Rio de Janeiro 63 kg
Updated on 11 November 2017

Dalidaivis Rodriguez Clark is a Cuban judoka who competes for her country, winning the gold medal in the 63 kilograms (139 lb) category at both the 2012 and 2016 Paralympic Games.

Career

Dalidaivis Rodriguez Clark suffers from keratoconus, a degenerative disease which slowly reduces her ability to see. She trains with able bodied Cuban judokas, and does not use anything to improve her vision while doing so to prepare for competition conditions. She competed in Judo in the 62 kilograms (137 lb) category at the 2011 Parapan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. Clark won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, England. In 2014, Clark at the International Blind Sports Federation Judo World Cup in Colorado Springs, United States. At the time, she had a heavy cold, but fought regardless, defeating Sweden's Nicolina Pernheim, Finland's Paivi Tolppanen and China's Tong Zhou in the semi-final. She was defeated by the Ukrainian Iryna Husieva in the final.

Prior to the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Clark spoke of her desire to fight Husieva once again. She credited a second victory at the Parapan American Games in the 2015 Toronto Games as being one of the key points of her build up to the Paralympics. Clark was selected as the flag bearer for the Cuban team at during the 2016 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony. Due to her victory at the 2012 Games, she was seeded into the semi-finals for the Judo tournament. She defeated Songlee Jin of South Korea, resulting in a rematch against Husieva in the final. Clark scored two waza-ari, and before defeating Husieva with an ippon to win the gold medal once more.