The USA got a gold medal through Maria Celia Laborde in the -48kg division.
Men’s -60kg
In Pool B, David Terao pinned his opponent Eduardo Sagastegui (MEX) twice but failed to get ippon. Still the waza-ari and yuko he got from the pins won him the match. He then lost his second match, against Enzo Jean (FRA) by Hansoku-Make after receiving three shidos for various infringements. In Pool C, Jonathan Yang got a bye in the first round. He won his second-round match against Izhak Ashpiz (ISR), countering his kosoto-gake with sumi-otoshi for ippon. This was a good win as Ashpiz was the Lima Grand Prix gold medalist. In the quarterfinal, his opponent Balabay Aghayev (AZE) threw Yang for yuko with kata-guruma. Yang replied with kouchi-makikomi for waza-ari. Aghayev ended the match with drop sode-tsurikomi-goshi for ippon. Yang lost his repechage match against Ahmad Yusifov (AZE), who threw him with kouchi-gari for waza-ari. Yang managed to throw Yusifov with a makikomi technique right before time ended but it was only a yuko, so he lost the match.
Women’s -48kg
Maria Celia Laborde won her first IJF gold medal in 2014 when she was fighting for Cuba. Fast forward to 2025 and she wins her first IJF gold for the USA. Laborde threw her first opponent, Jade Perez (MEX) with drop sode-tsurikomi-goshi for a waza-ari and a yuko, which was enough to win her the match. Her second match was already the semifinal, and she won that through penalties in Golden Score. In the final, she threw her opponent Eva Perez Soler in the first 10 seconds and then fought tactically for the rest of the match to secure her first ever gold for the USA. The other American player in this category was Anat Tsyrlin. She lost to Heidi Quach (CAN) who threw her with drop sode-tsurikomi-goshi for waza-ari and then pinned her for waza-ari-awasete-ippon.
Men’s -66kg
In Pool A, Lenny Sheynfeld lost to Julien Frascadore (CAN) by yuko from a very low drop seoi-otoshi. In Pool D, Ari Berliner defeated Jose Quinta (MEX) with kouch-gari for ippon in Golden Score. He fought well against the very experienced Elios Manzi (ITA) but was thrown with kouchi-gari for yuko in the last 30 seconds of the match.
Women’s -52kg
In Pool A, Toni Pepia lost to Kenya Perna (ITA) in a newaza exchange where Pepia attacked first with an armlock roll attempt. Perna countered her by using a hara-zutsumi variation popular amongst the Italians, and pinned her for ippon. In Pool C, Emily Sway was attacked with sankaku by her opponent Nicole Marques (BRA). She managed to avoid being turned over but succumbed to an armlock instead.
Women’s -57kg
In Pool D, Mariah Holguin lost to Renata Ortiz (MEX), who countered her drop seoi-nage attack with tani-otoshi for yuko, in Golden Score.
