Utkirjon Nigmatov (born 10 September 1990) is an Uzbek judoka and Paralympian competing in the weight category up to 66 kg. He is the champion of the 2016 Summer Paralympic Games, a medalist in World Championships, winner of the Summer Para Asian Games, and a medalist in World Cup and Grand Prix events in Para Judo.
Career In 2014, at the World Judo Championships for the visually impaired in Colorado, USA, he won a silver medal in his weight category, losing in the final to Bayram Mustafayev from Azerbaijan. In 2015, at the World Games for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Seoul, South Korea, in the judo competition in the weight category up to 66 kg, he claimed victory in the final over Mongolian judoka Munkhbat Aajim.
In 2016, at the Summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the weight category up to 66 kg, he secured a victory in the final over Azerbaijani judoka Bayram Mustafayev, earning an Olympic gold medal. In the same year, the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, awarded Utkirjon the honorary title " Oʻzbekiston iftixori" ("Pride of Uzbekistan").
In 2018, at the Summer Para Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, in the weight category up to 66 kg, he emerged victorious in the final against Kazakh judoka Azamat Turumbetov, winning the gold medal for the games. At the same competition, he also secured a bronze medal as part of the Uzbekistan team. In the same year, at the World Judo Championships for the visually impaired in Lisbon, Portugal, he won a bronze medal in his weight category.
In 2021, he won silver at the Grand Prix stage of visually impaired and partially sighted judo in Baku, Azerbaijan, in the weight category up to 66 kg, losing in the final to the Azerbaijani Namig Abbasli.
Medals IBSA World Championships YearLocationEventPosition2014 Colorado, United States Individual Judo2nd2018 Lisbon, PortugalIndividual Judo1st
IBSA World Games YearLocationEventPosition2015 Seoul, South KoreaIndividual Judo1st
Paralympic Games YearLocationEventPosition2016 Rio de Janeiro, BrazilIndividual Judo1st
IBSA World Cup YearLocationEventPosition2017 Antalya, TurkeyIndividual Judo3rd2020 Tbilisi, GeorgiaIndividual Judo3rd
Asian Para Games Jakarta YearLocationEventPosition2018 Jakarta, IndonesiaIndividual Judo1st
IBSA Judo Grand Prix YearLocationEventPosition2021 Baku, AzerbaijanIndividual Judo2nd
References