Marta Arce (Valladolid, 47 years old) is a Paralympic judoka with oculocutaneous albinism and mother of three children. This Friday she won the bronze medal in the -57kg category in her fifth Games, a medal she had not won for 12 years, when she finished third at the London Paralympics. Arce beat the Brazilian Lúcia da Silva Teixeira by Ippon in just 5 seconds. With this bronze and the one won in tennis in the men’s doubles category by Martín de la Puente and Daniel Caverzaschi, Spain has already surpassed, with 38 medals, the record of the Tokyo Paralympics, where 36 medals were won.
The judoka from Valladolid moved to Madrid to study physiotherapy at the ONCE University School of Physiotherapy, a stage in which she discovered that she could be an athlete adapted to her disability. It was then that judo appeared in her life. Arce decided on this discipline because her older brother practiced it and, in her first competition at the European Championships in Castellón in 1997, she won gold. Since then, her list of achievements has increased with another four medals in European Championships (one gold and three silver), six medals in World Championships (two gold and four silver) and another four in the Paralympic Games (two silver in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 and two bronze in London 2012 and Paris 2024).
Arce, who was the flag bearer for the Spanish delegation at these Paralympics, retired after the London Games, so she was not at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Games. However, in 2018 she returned to the tatami to prepare for Tokyo, where she did not win a medal. After winning the bronze this Friday, Arce does not rule out going to Los Angeles 2028. “Life will end up taking me back, but now I am not going to say anything about retiring,” she said.
In addition to being an athlete, Arce is a physiotherapist, studies Social Education, gives lectures and workshops to share his experiences and help anyone who wants to achieve their dreams and knows four languages (Spanish, Italian, English and Japanese).
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