*** Welcome to piglix ***

Rafaela Silva

Rafaela Silva
Rafaela Silva 2016.jpg
Silva in 2016
Personal information
Nationality Brazilian
Born (1992-04-24) 24 April 1992 (age 25)
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Height 169 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Weight 57 kg (126 lb)
Sport
Sport Judo
Club Instituto Reação
Coached by Geraldo Bernardes

Rafaela Lopes Silva (born 24 April 1992) is a Brazilian judoka. She won a gold medal at the 2013 World Judo Championships and at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the –57 kg weight division. Currently, she occupies the graduation third sergeant in the Navy of Brazil and integrates the Center of Physical Education Admiral Nunes (CEFAN), the Military Sports Department.

In August 2013, she was the first Brazilian to become world champion in Judo. On 8 August 2016, she won the gold medal of category up until 57 kg the Olympics 2016, after defeat judoka Mongolia, Sumiya Dorjsuren, who was leader of the ranking world. With this, she became the first athlete in the history of Brazilian judo, between men and women, to become world and olympic champion.

Rafaela Silva grew up in the Rio slum Cidade de Deus. The first sport she liked was football, practicing against other children in a dirt field near her home in Jacarepagua. Because they were concerned with fights and violence in the streets, when Rafaela was 7 years old her parents Luiz Carlos and Zenilda Silva signed her up, together with her sister, Raquel, for judo classes at the Institute Reaction, newly fitted at Cidade de Deus the former athlete Flávio Canto.

"I started judo in 2000, early in the project. My father put me in the sport as an alternative to I stop getting fighting in the street. In Judo, I found discipline, I respect the other and began to take the sport seriously. Judo showed me the world. With the resources I get, I guarantee my support and help my family pay the bills. "

Silva won her first major medal by claiming silver at the 2011 World Judo Championships in Paris. During the 2013 World Judo Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Silva became the first Brazilian woman to ever win a gold medal for her country in a World Judo Championship after defeating American Marti Malloy in the final. She repeated the feat at the 2016 Summer Olympics by defeating Mongolian Sumiya Dorjsuren in the final.

In the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Rafaela was disqualified by the judges in the second round by an illegal coup. The most dramatic moment of Rafaela in the sport. When it ended up being a victim of racism in social networks. Upon returning home, she became depressed. She spent a lot of time lying down, not wanting to leave. "A lot of people came to say that she needed to turn around," says the mother. In 2012, in December, she was a bronze medalist at the Grand Slam of Tokyo (category up to 63 kg).


...
Wikipedia

...