PARIS – U.S. Para judo competitor Liana Mutia entered the Paralympics with quite a bit of uncertainty. While she wanted to do her best to prepare for the games, there are only so many hours in the day.

“A lot of these other women, other athletes—all they do is sports,” remarked Mutia. “I have a full-time job; I have this. I’m tired of all of the time.”

On the eighth day of Paralympic play, the Judoka entered the Champ-de-Mars arena in a lonely spot. Representing the United States in the women’s -57 kg J1 B tournament, Mutia was not only the only U.S. athlete competing in that classification but the only U.S. competitor in any Judo classification for the day.

It’s suffice to say that competing by herself didn’t make for a slow start; it did just the opposite. After receiving a bye to the quarterfinals, Mutia squared off against Argentina’s Paula Karina Gomez. Gomez, who became the first female athlete to represent Argentina in Para Judo back at Rio 2016, was immediately overmatched by Mutia.

Just seven seconds into the duel between the Judoaka, Mutia pulled off an Osoto-gari on her first throw. This move saw Mutia move slightly past her opponent, and, once behind her, propel her leg backward to take down Gomez. 

The referee ruled that the move was an Ippon, a throw that places an opponent on their back with appropriate speed, strength, and control. Any ippon immediately ends the play, awarding 10 points to the Judoka who executes the move.

In her next matchup, this time against Anzhela Havrysiuk of Ukraine, Mutia’s win would not come so easily. Mutia had the experience advantage; it was the Ukrainian’s first Paralympic performance, but as she put it, not much else.

“She’s bigger than me, stronger than me and her judo is better,” proclaimed Mutia after the match.

Even with her perceived disadvantages. The two-time Paralympian went throw for throw with her Ukrainian counterpart throughout the match, throwing each other to the ground multiple times without any takedowns meeting the criteria for an Ippon or Waza-ari.

As the clock approached the four-minute mark, thus sending the match to overtime, Mutia brought down her opponent by trapping Havrysiuk’s arm on her shoulder and throwing the Ukrainian onto the mat, a move known as Seoi-nage.

The move was ruled a Waza-ari, meaning it missed one of the three criteria for Ippon and gives the judoka who pulled it off just one point. Usually, a player needs two of those to win a match, but since Mutia fit it in right before time expired, it was enough to propel her to the finals.

After the win, Mutia shared a long hug with U.S. coach Ed Liddie. She was breathless and full of emotion as she approached the press. The key to the win, in her mind, was intelligence and the ability to wear down opponents.

“I have no choice but to grind her down and catch her. Muscles zero, intelligence 100,” said the Philadelphia-based judoka.

The final came down to Mutia and China’s Yijie Shi, and unfortunately for Mutia it wasn’t particularly close. Shi went up early after being awarded a Waza-ari on a Seoi-nage.

After the tough start, Mutia couldn’t connect on any successful throws. Yjie Shi’s next Seoi-nage just a little under two minutes into the match was good enough for an ippon, thus ending the match and relegating Mutia to silver.

Mutia, who finished in ninth place in the bracket in Tokyo after losing her first match, proved her prowess, even against judokas who she considered bigger, stronger and better technically than her.