Maria Celia Laborde

Maria Celia Laborde (born 2 August 1990) is a Cuban-born American judoka.^[1]

Laborde won a bronze medal at the 2014 World Judo Championships in Chelyabinsk for Cuba. After winning bronze at the 2013 Paris Grand Slam, she immigrated to the United States. According to a USA Today profile on Laborde before her first appearance at the Olympic Games in 2024, she had been third in the world in her weight class at the time, which would have made her likely to represent Cuba at the 2016 games; however, she originally intended to take those qualification points and use them to represent the USA, but was told that she required American citizenship and had to start from scratch.^[2] Laborde received American citizenship in 2022, making her eligible to represent the USA, and claimed a bronze medal at the 2022 Pan American-Oceania Championships, in Lima, Peru.^[1]