Naomi Soazo is a Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

n judoka. She competes in judo events for the visually impaired

Visual impairment

Visual impairment is vision loss to such a degree as to qualify as an additional support need through a significant limitation of visual capability resulting from either disease, trauma, or congenital or degenerative conditions that cannot be corrected by conventional means, such as refractive...

 and blind

Blindness

Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...

.

Soazo has competed in a number of international events, such as the International Blind Sports Federation World Championships, but is best known for being the only Venezuelan, in any sport, to have won a gold medal at the Paralympic Games

Paralympic Games

The Paralympic Games are a major international multi-sport event where athletes with a physical disability compete; this includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and Cerebral Palsy. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which are held immediately following their...

. She made her Paralympic Games début at the 2008 Summer Paralympics

2008 Summer Paralympics

The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games, the thirteenth Paralympics, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to September 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao....

 in Beijing

Beijing

Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

, in the women's up to 63kg category. Defeating Zhou Qian of China

China at the 2008 Summer Paralympics

China was the host of the 2008 Summer Paralympics, held in Beijing. China's delegation included 547 people, of whom 332 were competitors. The athletes, 197 men and 135 women, ranged in age from 15 to 51 and competed in all twenty sports. Two-hundred and twenty-six of the competitors participated in...

 by ippon

Ippon

Ippon literally "one full point", it is the highest score a fighter can achieve in a Japanese martial arts ippon-wazari contest, usually judo, karate or jujutsu.-Ippon in judo:...

 within less than a minute in her first match, she then defeated Sweden

Sweden at the 2008 Summer Paralympics

Sweden will send a delegation to compete at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing.-Medalists:-Archery:WomenMen-Women's team:-Men's team:-Equestrian:-Women:Åsa Alverstedt,Malin Gustavsson,Maria Juliusson,Josefine Jälmestål,...

's Elvira Kivi by waza-ari

Waza-ari

Waza Ari literally "half a point", is the second highest score a fighter can achieve in a Japanese martial arts ippon-wazari contest, usually Judo, karate or Jujutsu.- Waza Ari in Judo :...

-awasete-ippon in the semifinal. In the final, it took her just three seconds to defeat Spain

Spain at the 2008 Summer Paralympics

Spain sent a delegation to compete at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. The country's delegation consisted of 232 people, including 133 athletes competing in 15 sports...

's Marta Arce by ippon and win Venezuela's first ever Paralympic gold medal.