At the Judo World Championships (U18), Maëlys Dapa (-48 kg) and Valérie Tombou (-70 kg) both won a silver medal.
© Di Feliciantonio Emanuele / IJF
The Cadet Judo World Championships took place in Guayaquil, Ecuador, where two young Belgians really shone in the under-18 categories!
Maëlys Dapa, who was runner-up at last year’s World Championships in Sofia, repeated the feat this year. After a superb tournament, the 17-year-old from Liège was only beaten in the final by Ella Bar Lev of Israel. A narrow defeat that was decided in extra time – known as the golden score – after a hold-down.
This young Belgian is proving just how much potential she has. Although she is still in the under-18 category, she has already competed in several junior tournaments, achieving some impressive results, such as at the European Cup in Skopje, where she won gold in early August.
Maëlys Dapa is regarded one of judo's brightest prospects, as is Valérie Tombou, who also became cadet world runner-up in the under-70 kg category. The 16-year-old from Manage (a municipality in the Hainaut province) had already won a silver medal at the EYOF (European Youth Olympic Festival) in 2025. She has now achieved the best result of her young career, underlining her talent with a World Championship podium.
She was only defeated after a closely contested final against the reigning world champion in the category, Clarisse Vallim of Brazil. Although she was penalised twice in the first four minutes of the bout, the Belgian fighter never gave up against the defending champion in a clash that ultimately went to extra time, with a hard-fought golden score that lasted nearly three more minutes.
With results like these, Belgian judo can look to the future with optimism!
