Rafaela Silva

Rafaela Silva

Silva in 2016
Personal information
Nationality	Brazilian
Born	(1992-04-24) 24 April 1992 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Height	169 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Weight	57 kg (126 lb)
Sport
Sport	Judo
Club	Instituto Reação[1]
Coached by	Geraldo Bernardes
Medal record Representing  Brazil Olympic Games 2016 Rio de Janeiro –57 kg World Championships 2013 Rio de Janeiro –57 kg 2011 Paris –57 kg 2013 Rio de Janeiro Team 2017 Budapest Mixed team Pan American Games 2011 Guadalajara -57 kg 2015 Toronto -57 kg Pan American Championships 2012 Montreal –57 kg 2013 San José –57 kg 2014 Guayaquil –57 kg 2015 Edmonton –57 kg 2011 Guadalajara –57 kg 2016 Havana –57 kg Military World Games 2015 Mungyeong –57 kg 2015 Mungyeong Team

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

Biography

Rafaela Silva grew up in the Rio de Janeiro slum known as 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^[2] 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. "

Rafaela Silva, owner of a gold medal of the Summer Olympic Games 2016 in Rio de Janeiro for a victory in competitions in judo.

Silva won her first major medal by claiming silver at the 2011 World Judo Championships in Paris.^[3] 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.^[4] She repeated the feat at the 2016 Summer Olympics by defeating Mongolian Sumiya Dorjsuren in the final.^[5]

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).

In an interview to the website Institute Reaction Rafaela said: "I started at judo in 2000, in the beginning of project. My father put me at judo as a form for me to stop fighting in the street."

Personal life

In an interview to Globo Sports, Rafaela came out about her relationship with student Thamara Cezar, whom she knew in Institute Reaction.^[6][7][8]

References

External links

• Rafaela Silva profile on judoinside.com