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Rafaela Silva
	Silva in 2016
Personal information
Born	24 April 1992 (age 32); Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Occupation	Judoka
Height	169 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Weight	57 kg (126 lb)
Sport
Country	Brazil
Sport	Judo
Weight class	‍–‍57 kg
Club	Instituto Reação
Coached by	Geraldo Bernardes
Achievements and titles
Olympic Games	(2016)
World Champ.	(2013, 2022)
Pan American Champ.	(2012, 2013, 2024)
Medal record
Women's judo
Representing Brazil
Olympic Games
World Championships
Pan American Games
Pan American Championships
World Masters
IJF Grand Slam
IJF Grand Prix
World Juniors Championships
Military World Games
Profile at external databases
IJF	438
JudoInside.com	51417
	Updated on 10 May 2024

Rafaela Lopes Silva (born 24 April 1992) is a Brazilian judoka. She won gold medals at the World Judo Championships of 2013 and 2022 and at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the –57 kg weight division.^[2] Currently, she occupies the rank of graduation third sergeant in the Navy of Brazil and integrates the Center of Physical Education Admiral Nunes (CEFAN), the Military Sports Department.^{[citation needed]}

In August 2013, she was the first Brazilian woman to become a world champion in Judo.^{[citation needed]}

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^[3] 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 by 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 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. "

Judo career

Silva won her first major medal by claiming silver at the 2011 World Judo Championships in Paris.^[4] 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.^[5] She repeated the feat at the 2016 Summer Olympics by defeating Mongolian Sumiya Dorjsuren in the final.^[6]

At the 2012 London Olympics, Silva was disqualified for an illegal leg grab during a fight against Hedvig Karakas of Hungary.^[7] Upon returning home, she became depressed. In December 2012, she was a bronze medalist at the Judo Grand Slam Tokyo (category up to 63 kg).

Silva won gold and bronze in 2019 Pan American Games and 2019 Judo World Championships, respectively, but tested positive for fenoterol after the former tournament.^[8] Despite testing negative in the World Championships, she was banned from competition for two years by IJF and stripped of both medals.^[8] Silva appealed the sanction, but the CAS upheld the ban in late 2020.^[8]

Mixed martial arts career

Being temporarily banned from judo, Silva opted to transition to mixed martial arts. She is currently training at PFL athlete Joilton Santos' gym Peregrino Fight Academy with UFC athlete Cláudio Silva and is expected to compete in the Flyweight division.^[9]

Personal life

In an interview with Globo Esporte, Rafaela came out as lesbian. She spoke about her girlfriend Thamara Cezar, whom she met via judo.^[10]^[11]^[12]

References

^ Rafaela Lopes Silva. cob.org.br
^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rafaela Silva". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 4 December 2016.
^ Paradella, Rodrigo (29 August 2013). "Rafaela Silva troca futebol por judô e supera drama familiar com ouro" (in Brazilian Portuguese). UOL Esporte. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
^ "World Judo Championships, Paris 2011 – DAY 2 RESULTS". Archived from the original on 13 September 2011. Retrieved 26 August 2011.
^ "IJF World Championship Seniors 2013 – Category -57 kg". Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
^ "Rafaela Silva wins Brazil's first gold medal of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
^ Judo: Racism inspires Brazil's golden girl to greatness Reuters, Tatiana Ramil, 9 August 2016
^ ^a ^b ^c "Olympic judo champion Rafaela Silva loses appeal of 2-year doping ban". ESPN. 21 December 2020.
^ Marcelo Alonso (22 January 2021). "Olympic, Brazilian World Judo Champion Rafaela Silva Moves to MMA". Sherdog.
^ "Brazilian Judo Gold Medalist Publicly Opens Up About Girlfriend For First Time". Huffington Post. 10 August 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
^ "Brazilian gold medal judo champion comes out publicly as gay". Outsposts. 10 August 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
^ "O alicerce que ninguém vê: namorada cuida de tudo para que Rafaela só lute". Globo Esporte (in Portuguese). 10 August 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.

External links

Media related to Rafaela Silva at Wikimedia Commons

Rafaela Silva at the International Judo Federation
Rafaela Silva at JudoInside.com
Rafaela Silva at Olympics.com
Rafaela Silva at the Brazilian Olympic Committee (in Portuguese)
Rafaela Silva at Olympedia
Rafaela Silva at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics
Rafaela Silva at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games
Rafaela Silva at The-Sports.org
Rafaela Silva on Instagram

Awards
Preceded by Ana Marcela Cunha	Brazilian Sportswomen of the Year 2016	Succeeded by Mayra Aguiar
Preceded by Thiago Pereira	Brazilian Athlete of the Year (Fan's Choice) 2016	Succeeded by Caio Bonfim