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Rafael Carlos da Silva (Brazilian Portuguese: [ʁafaˈew ˈsiwvɐ]; born 11 May 1987) is a Brazilian heavyweight judoka. He has two Olympic bronze medals (London 2012 and Rio 2016) in addition to having 4 individual medals in World Judo Championships (one silver and three bronze), in addition to being a six-time Pan American Judo champion.[3]
Early life
Born in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, and raised in Rolândia, in the interior of Paraná, Silva only discovered judo at the age of 15, a very old age for top athletes. The difficulties brought about by the late start in the sport, such as the lack of technique and the basic fundamentals of judo, were overcome with a lot of training. With this, he managed to ascend quickly. In 2005 Rafael already represented Brazil internationally, even though he had only been in the sport for 3 years, and in 2006 Silva competed in the World Judo Juniors Championships in Santo Domingo. But it was in 2010 that Silva's results began to appear more prominently.[4]
International Career
2010-2012
At the 2010 South American Games he won three gold medals: in the Men's +100 kg, Men's Open and Men's Team category.[5][6]
In 2010, Silva competed in his first adult world championship, at the 2010 World Judo Championships, when he finished in fifth place.[7]
In 2011, Silva competed in the Pan American Games for the first time, in Guadalajara, placing second in the Men's +100 kg category after losing the final to Cuban Oscar Bryson.[8][9]
At the 2012 Pan American Judo Championships held in Montreal, Canada, Silva, then third in the IJF (International Judo Federation) world rankings in the over 100 kg category, won what would become the first of many golds in this competition, defeating Cuban Oscar Brayson.[10]
Throughout 2011 and 2012, the Brazilian established himself as one of the most promising judokas in the category, winning more than 11 medals on the World Circuit, including silver in the traditional Tokyo Grand Slam and the silver medal in the men's team world championship, in Salvador, Bahia.[11]
2012 Summer Olympics
In 2012, Silva definitively joined the gallery of greatest Brazilian judokas, when he won the bronze medal at the London Olympic Games, the only one in Brazil's men's judo at that edition and the first medal in the Brazil's history of the heavyweight division. Silva maintained his excellent form throughout the 2016 Olympic cycle and came to lead the world rankings, ahead of Frenchman Teddy Riner, one of the biggest names in the history of world judo.[12][13][14]
2013-2016
At the 2013 Pan American Judo Championships, held in San Jose, Costa Rica, Baby became two-time champion of the Heavyweight category (+100 kg).[15]
At the 2013 Judo World Championship, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, "Baby", as Rafael Silva is nicknamed, reached the final, but lost to the legendary judoka Teddy Riner, who became six-time world champion. With this, he won the silver medal.[16]
At the 2014 Pan American Judo Championships, held in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Baby became three-time champion of the Heavyweight category (+100 kg).[17]
At the 2014 World Judo Championships, held in Chelyabinsk, Russia, Rafael Silva reached the semifinals, once again having to face the invincible Teddy Riner (no one had managed to defeat him in the heavyweight category at a world championship). After losing the semifinal, he returned to the bronze medal, where he beat Dutchman Roy Meier and took bronze.[18][19]
In April 2015, at the 2015 Pan American Judo Championships in Edmonton, he made a Brazilian final against David Moura, but was defeated, taking the silver medal.[20]
In June 2015, he suffered an injury to his right pectoralis major muscle tendon during strength training and underwent a surgical procedure on June 30. As a result, he had to be removed from the 2015 Pan American Games, from the 2015 World Judo Championships and was unable to compete for the rest of the year.[21][22]
In 2016, Baby fought to recover from his injury and get back ahead of his compatriot David Moura to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. At the 2016 Pan American Judo Championships in Havana, with a new final between Baby and Moura, Baby this time won and became four-time champion of the tournament.[23]
2016 Summer Olympics
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At the 2016 Summer Olympics, he won again the bronze medal in the Men's +100 kg, losing only to Teddy Riner.[24]
2017-2020
At the 2017 World Judo Championships held in Budapest, Hungary, Baby beat Ushangi Kokauri, from Azerbaijan, in his debut, by ippon. Next, against the Romanian Daniel Natea, he won by waza-ari. The next rival was Tunisian Faicel Jaballah. Once again, Rafael Silva managed to win by ippon. In the quarterfinals, he faced Teddy Riner, who hadn't lost a fight in 7 years, and had no chance. The Frenchman applied two waza-aris and immobilized the Brazilian for 20 seconds, winning by ippon, pushing Slva into the repechage. To continue dreaming of a medal, Baby needed to get past Austrian Daniel Allerstorfer. The fight was tough and led to the golden score with one penalty against the Brazilian, and two against Allerstorfer. After almost six minutes of fighting, the Austrian was punished again and lost the fight. In the bronze dispute, the rival was Borna Bor. The Hungarian, supported by the fans, did well, but the Brazilian's experience counted more. The fight once again went to the golden score. After 6min18s, Bor received the second shido, and Baby celebrated bronze - his third individual medal at world championships (silver in Rio 2013, bronze in Chelyabinsk 2014 and Budapest 2017).[25] In the mixed team modality, he won a silver medal representing Brazil.[26]
At the 2018 World Judo Championships held in Baku, Azerbaijan, Baby lost in the first round to the Japanese Hisayoshi Harasawa, Olympic runner-up at the Rio 2016 Games. He wasn't well in the rankings because he fought little during this period, so he was unlucky enough to fall against one of the top fighters in the category.[27]
At the 2019 Pan American Judo Championships held in Lima, Peru, in another Brazilian final with Baby facing David Moura for the 3rd time in the finals of this tournament, Baby obtained his fifth gold in Pan American Judo Championships.[28]In the mixed team modality, he won a gold medal representing Brazil.[29]
At the 2019 World Judo Championships held in Tokyo, Japan, Baby reached the quarterfinals, losing to Japanese Hisayoshi Harasawa, the same way as in 2018. In the repechage, he reached the bronze medal match, but lost to Korean Kim Min-jong, finishing 5th.[30] In the mixed team modality, he won a bronze medal representing Brazil.[31]
In 2020, he won the silver medal in the men's +100 kg event at the 2020 Pan American Judo Championships held in Guadalajara, Mexico.[32]
At the 2021 Pan American Judo Championships held in Guadalajara, Mexico, in another Brazilian final with Baby (then 10th in the world) facing David Moura (then 11th in the world) for the 4th time in the finals of this tournament, Baby obtained his sixth gold in Pan American Judo Championships.[33]
At the 2021 World Judo Championships held in Budapest, Hungary, Baby had the same performance as in 2019: he reached the semifinals, but was defeated twice in a row, by the Japanese Kokoro Kageura and in the bronze match by the Dutchman Roy Meyer, finishing 5th again.[34] In the mixed team modality, he won a bronze medal representing Brazil.[35]
2020 Summer Olympics
He represented Brazil at the 2020 Summer Olympics.[36][37]
2021-2024
He won the silver medal in his event at the 2022 Judo Grand Slam Tel Aviv held in Tel Aviv, Israel.[38]
At the 2022 Pan American-Oceania Judo Championships held in Lima, Peru, Baby reached the final, but lost by controversial shidos (judo punishments) against Cuban Andy Granda, obtaining silver.[39]
At the 2022 World Judo Championships held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, he was eliminated in the round of 16 by Uzbek Alisher Yusupov. He had beaten China's Ruixuan Li in his first fight.[40]
In May 2023, at the 2023 World Judo Championships held in Doha, Qatar, Baby became the oldest judoka in history to reach the podium of the competition. At 36, he obtained the bronze medal. He had a great campaign, beating last year's champion, the Cuban Andy Granda in the repechage, and surprised in the bronze dispute, by beating ranking leader, Temur Rakhimov, from Tajikistan, by wazari on the golden score. Previously, he had defeated Ecuadorian Freddy Figueroa and German Losseni Kone, before falling to Uzbek Alisher Yusupov. [41]
At the 2023 Pan American-Oceania Judo Championships held in Calgary, Canada, Baby made a new final with Cuban Andy Granda, where he fought evenly but ended up taking 3 punishments and obtaining silver.[42] He also won a gold medal in the Brazil's mixed team.[43]
Participating in the Pan American Games for the last time in his life, Baby was at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile. In this competition, he obtained bronze in the +100 kg category and silver in the mixed teams representing Brazil. He was defeated three times in the same competition by world champion Andy Granda, which prevented Baby from winning gold medals in this event.[44][45][46]
References
- ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rafael da Silva". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.
- ↑ "Rafael Silva". COB.org.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Comitê Olímpico do Brasil. Archived from the original on 19 September 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
- ↑ "Rafael Silva". judoinside.com. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
- ↑ Profile at OlimpiadaTodoDia
- ↑ Judocas garantem mais um ouro para o Brasil em Medellín
- ↑ Profile at OlimpiadaTodoDia
- ↑ Profile at OlimpiadaTodoDia
- ↑ Profile at OlimpiadaTodoDia
- ↑ Rafael Silva perde para cubano e fica com a prata no judô
- ↑ Após superar "freguesia", Rafael Silva diz que Riner é o próximo
- ↑ Profile at OlimpiadaTodoDia
- ↑ Profile at OlimpiadaTodoDia
- ↑ Judoca Rafael Silva conquista bronze em Londres
- ↑ Judoca Rafael Silva conquista bronze em Londres
- ↑ Mayra Aguiar e Baby comandam show brasileiro no Pan de judô
- ↑ Baby não resiste, fica com a prata, e gigante francês leva o hexa mundial
- ↑ Brasil fatura mais três ouros no Pan-Americano de judô
- ↑ Rafael Silva repete Olimpíada e leva bronze no Mundial
- ↑ Rafael Silva conquista medalha de bronze no Mundial de Judô
- ↑ Rafael Silva luta para recuperar hegemonia no judô entre os pesados
- ↑ Judoca Rafael Silva é cortado do Pan por lesão e David Moura é convocado
- ↑ Rafael Silva luta para recuperar hegemonia no judô entre os pesados
- ↑ Baby vence David Moura e larga na frente por vaga no judô na Rio-2016
- ↑ "Baby confirma aposta, esquece revés para astro e ganha 2º bronze olímpico" [Baby confirms bet, forgets setback for star and wins 2nd Olympic bronze]. globoesporte.globo.com (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
- ↑ David Moura é prata, e Baby leva o bronze. Teddy Riner é campeão mundial de novo
- ↑ Brasil conquista a prata no Mundial por equipes mistas de judô
- ↑ Flávio Canto analisa o Brasil no Mundial de Judô e diz: ‘Liga o alarme’
- ↑ Em final brasileira, Baby conquista o ouro no Pan-Americano de judô
- ↑ Jovem brasileira ganha duas vezes de campeã olímpica e garante ouro por equipes no Pan de judô
- ↑ Mundial de Judô dia 7
- ↑ Equipe mista conquista o bronze e Brasil sai de Tóquio com três terceiros lugares no Mundial
- ↑ Berkeley, Geoff (21 November 2020). "Brazil rack up eight medals on day two of Pan American Judo Championships". InsideTheGames.biz. Archived from the original on 22 November 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
- ↑ Rafael Silva vence David Moura e leva o ouro no Pan de judô
- ↑ Pesados garantem primeiras medalhas do Brasil no Mundial de judô
- ↑ Brasil bate a Rússia e é bronze por equipes mistas no Mundial de Judô
- ↑ Brasil, Bolavip. "Brasil já tem 275 atletas classificados para os Jogos Olímpicos de Tóquio" [Brazil already has 275 athletes qualified for the Tokyo Olympics]. Bolavip Brasil (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 27 June 2021. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
- ↑ "Judo - SILVA Rafael". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 23 August 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
- ↑ Lloyd, Owen (19 February 2022). "Dicko cements France's place at top of Tel Aviv Grand Slam medals table". InsideTheGames.biz. Archived from the original on 20 February 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
- ↑ Brasil conquista 15 medalhas no Pan-Americano de Judô, em Lima, e fica em primeiro lugar geral no individual
- ↑ Mundial de Judô: Brasil encerra participação no individual com prata de Beatriz Souza
- ↑ Rafael Silva se torna o mais velho da história a ir ao pódio no Mundial de judô
- ↑ Brasil conquista 3 medalhas
- ↑ Brasil é campeão por equipes mistas no Pan-Americano e Oceania de Judô
- ↑ Rafael Silva, atleta do Time Ajinomoto, fica com o bronze nos pesos pesados do judô dos Jogos Pan-Americanos de Santiago
- ↑ Judô supera melhor campanha em Pan e fecha Santiago com 15 medalhas individuais
- ↑ Pan 2023: Brasil é prata por equipe e fecha melhor campanha no judô com 16 medalhas
External links
Media related to Rafael Silva (judoka) at Wikimedia Commons
- Rafael Silva at the International Judo Federation
- Rafael Silva at JudoInside.com
- Rafael Silva at AllJudo.net (in French)
- Rafael Silva at Olympics.com
- Rafael Silva at Olympedia
- Rafael Silva at the Brazilian Olympic Committee (in Portuguese)
- Rafael Silva at The-Sports.org
- Rafael Silva on Instagram