UWW

Valderde Melendres enters the Tokyo Games as the No. 3 seed at 53 kg… Earned spot in Tokyo Olympics in June after North Korea announced they were withdrawing from the Games. As a result, Valverde earned the allocation at 53 kg because of her seventh-place finish at the ’19 World Championships in Nur-Sultan… She also had a top-10 finish at the ’18 World Championships… Claimed bronze at the ’11 Junior World Championships… Won her bracket at the ’20 Pan American Championships… Has collected five silver medals at the Pan American Championships… Finished fifth at the ’11, ’15 and ’19 Pan American Games… Earned Ranking Series silver medal at ’20 Matteo Pellicone… Earned Ranking Series bronze at ’19 City of Sassari Tournament… Picked up a silver medal at ’21 Dan Kolov… Won gold medal at ’18 South American Games… Also won gold at ’15 South American Championships…