Paris 2024 Paralympic Games: Liana Mutia exclusive on finding success "using my mind instead of my physical attributes”

Soft-spoken, gentle and reserved are not words typically associated with athletes in combat sports, but world number three judoka Liana Mutia (-57kg J1) is anything but typical.

By trade, the 25-year-old is a software analyst who spends her nine-to-fives coding and consulting.

Standing at just five-foot-one (1.55 metres), her petite stature, delicate demeanor and bubbly personality can be deceptive, but the second that Mutia steps up to the tatami, she becomes a force to be reckoned with.

Ranked as world number one going into the Paralympic year before two Grand Prix absences dropped her into third, the visually impaired athlete has mastered the craft of leverage, but in a way that goes far beyond the physical sense.

“I’m really not all that strong,” the judoka said candidly in an exclusive interview with Olympics.com ahead of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. “I’m really not a fighter.”

Though her ranking on the world leaderboard might disagree with that statement, it is not brute strength or even gifted talent that has landed Mutia on top of the world, but rather her exceptional intellect.

“I’m more of a planner, more of an analyst,” she said. “As someone who works in tech, I love finding solutions to problems, no matter if the odds are seemingly insurmountable.

“Every single match I’ve won, every single medal I’ve gotten, I got that medal or won that match six months to a year [prior],” she said, referring to the meticulous, extensive and written-out preparation that has gone into every single one of her matches.

So, Matia’s recipe for success, when dramatically simplified, is to prepare and strategize enough to the point that she already has the solution to anything her opponent might throw at her.

“And that's how I've been so successful… It's literally just from using my mind instead of my physical attributes.”

Mutia’s strategy for success

In an attempt to eliminate the element of surprise as something that could be used against her, Mutia has spent years developing somewhat of a master plan for uncontested success.

“My modus operandi is TDD,” she said, explaining how ‘test-driven development’ makes up the root of her training and preparation.

But how does she put this into practice? “I, or some other player, throws a bunch of test cases (fights) at (the other) player," Mutia explains, "I get the information. From the information, I draw patterns of behavior. From patterns of behavior, I draw out solutions.”

Sounds simple enough, right?

In reality, Mutia spends months analyzing her competition and finding solutions to as many obstacles as possible before she even steps onto the tatami. From it, she comprises comprehensive spreadsheets that are then used to plan parts of her physical training.

“At the end of the day, it is just a game,” she continued.

“And there are only so many ways to win the game. Which means that just like chess, just like any other game, you can find various strategies to cover up your weak points.

“There, in my opinion, are very few things that cannot be boiled into quantifiable metrics.”

In Paris, the world will watch to see if Mutia’s strategy is a success and whether her meticulous planning and preparation was enough to overcome her self-described physical limitations.

Liana Mutia at Paris 2024

When Mutia takes the stage in Paris on 5 September, she will become a two-time Paralympian.

At Tokyo 2020, she finished ninth in the 63kg weight class, but has since dropped to -57kg, where she stands as a strong contender to land on the podium after back-to-back bronze medals at the 2022 IBSA World Championships and 2023 IBSA World Games.

The word ‘contender’ doesn’t mean much to Mutia, who has spent years calculating countless possibilities and outcomes, coming to the conclusion that: “I will get a medal, though, just for the record.”

But it’ll be far from a walk in the park, as she will face fierce competition in her weight class, including Ukraine’s Naraliya Nikolaychyk, who has been undefeated for all of 2024.

On 5 September, Mutia’s day will start off with preliminary rounds at 10:00 a.m. local Parisian time, with the gold-medal rounds for all weight classes beginning at 16:00.

“I would love, love, love, love to get a medal at these Games,” she said.

“But, what is more important to me is that I make my family happy and my family proud. Whether that is or isn't with the medal.”