Natália Falavigna

Natália Falavigna

Personal information
Born	May 9, 1984 (1984-05-09) (age 32) Maringá, Paraná state, Brazil
Medal record Women's taekwondo Representing  Brazil Olympic Games 2008 Beijing +67 kg World Championships 2005 Madrid −72 kg 2001 Jeju −63 kg 2007 Beijing −72 kg 2009 Copenhagen +73 kg Pan American Games 2007 Rio de Janeiro +67 kg South American Games 2002 Rio de Janeiro −72 kg 2014 Santiago +67 kg Summer Universiade 2009 Belgrade +72 kg 2003 Daegu −72 kg

Natália Falavigna da Silva (born May 9, 1984 in Maringá, Paraná state) is a taekwondo athlete from Brazil. She finished in the fourth place in the women's 67-kilogram category in taekwondo at the 2004 Summer Olympics on August 26, and won the bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics. It was the first Brazilian Olympic medal ever in taekwondo.

Falavigna was born in Maringá, and grew up in another city in the Paraná state, Londrina. At the age of four, she saw judoka Aurélio Miguel win a gold medal in the 1988 Summer Olympics and was inspired to become an athlete. She practiced volleyball, basketball, soccer, swimming, and the first she dedicated the most, handball. In 1998, Falavigna was introduced by a friend to taekwondo, and while the first classes were "by impulse", the coach said Falavigna had potential and could become world champion. Two years later, she won the World Junior Taekwondo Championships in Ireland, becoming the first Brazilian to do so. In the four years that followed, Falavigna ended up on the top three in 9 of the 11 international competitions she entered. In 2003, Falavigna entered a state of depression and even considered trading taekwondo for tennis, but found a new strength to the sport after winning silver at the 2003 Summer Universiade.

Natália Falavigna won the following competitions:

Falavigna won the Brazilian Olympic Award's Women's Best Athlete of the Year in 2005, and also won the 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, and 2009 Best Taekwondo Athlete.

In 2000, two years after starting practicing taekwondo, Falavigna won the World Youth Taekwondo Championship, held in Killarney, Republic of Ireland. It was the first international tournament that she participated in.

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