Mayra Aguiar da Silva (born August 3 1991) is a Brazilian judoka.[1] She was a bronze medallist in three consecutive Olympics, 2012, 2016 and 2020. She is also three-time world champion (2014, 2017 & 2022). She is the first Brazilian woman to win three Olympic medals in an individual sport, being the best female judoka in the history of Brazil.
When she was still 15 years old, she competed at 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro and won a silver medal, losing in the final to future UFC champion Ronda Rousey.[6][7]
In December 2008, Aguiar suffered a serious injury to her right knee. She was unable to perform any judo training for almost ten months, coming back only in September 2009.[11]
2009–2012
Aguiar in 2010.
After spending ten months away from the mat due to knee surgery, in October 2009, Aguiar won the bronze medal in the 78kg category at the 2009 World Judo Juniors Championships in Paris.[12]
In 2010, after the injury, Aguiar changed category from middleweight to half-heavyweight[13] and won a gold medal at 2010 Pan American Championships in El Salvador. At the 2010 Judo Grand Slam Rio de Janeiro (Grand Slam is the tournament that gives the most points in the judo ranking after the Olympic Games, the World Championships and the World Masters), she defeated the French number 1 in the –78kg category, Celine Lebrun, and reached the bronze medal.[14] In September of that same year, she participated at the 2010 World Championships and lost the final to Kayla Harrison from the United States, receiving the silver medal.[15] By winning gold at the 2010 World Judo Juniors Championships in Agadir, Mayra became the athlete with the most medals in the competition of all time.[16]
At the beginning of 2012, she won her first title in World Masters (the second most important competition on the judo circuit after the World Championships). At the age of 20, she won the gold medal at the 2012 Judo World Masters held in Almaty.[24] After winning the 2012 Judo Grand Slam Paris, she took first place in the world rankings in the under-78kg category. It was the first time that a Brazilian woman topped the ranking created by the IJF in 2009.[25] She became three-time champion of the Pan American Judo Championship, at the 2012 Pan American Judo Championships in Montreal.[26]
2012 Summer Olympics
In 2012, Aguiar won a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, winning three matches by ippon. Her only defeat was again to Harrison, who won the semifinal on the way to a gold medal.[27]
After the 2013 World Championships, she only returned to competition in July 2014, at the 2014 Judo Grand Slam Tyumen, where she won four matches and secured the gold medal, defeating her rival Kayla Harrison.[33] Aguiar became world champion for the first time in 2014, defeating the French Audrey Tcheuméo in the final.[34]
In February 2016, Aguiar won the gold medal at the 2016 Judo Grand Slam Paris, becoming two-time champion of this tournament and defeating the American Kayla Harrison, her biggest rival in the category, by ippon in the final. It was the second time she won the French Grand Slam defeating Harrison. At this point, she had the advantage in retrospect against Harrison (eight victories in 15 clashes).[38] At the 2016 Pan American Judo Championships in Havana, in a new final Aguiar x Harrison, the American tied the match between the two, leaving Aguiar with the silver.[39] In the final of the –78kg category of the 2016 Judo World Masters, the 17th duel between Aguiar and Harrison took place, where the American applied an armbar (juji-gatame) in the final minute, winning the fight. Aguiar won the silver medal, her third Masters medal.[40]
2016 Summer Olympics
Aguiar in the bronze medal match at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
With Brazil hosting the 2016 Summer Olympics and Aguiar's recent triumphs, she was the favorite to win the gold.[41] A difficult semi-final against Tcheuméo, where Aguiar was kept scoreless and was defeated on penalties, sent her again to the bronze match, which Aguiar won, giving her a second Olympic medal.[42][43]
After the 2016 Olympic Games, Mayra took a period of time to rest and focus on training. She returned on June 2017, winning the 2017 Judo Grand Prix Cancún in Mexico. In her second competition of the year, the 2017 World Judo Championships, she defeated two Japanese in a row to become two-time world champion.[44] This year, she also won bronze in the 2017 Judo Grand Slam Abu Dhabi.[45]
After the return of world sports competitions, Mayra achieved great results in 2022. In April, at 2022 Pan American-Oceania Judo Championships, she became seven-time champion of the tournament.[57] She obtained the silver of the 2022 Judo Grand Slam Tbilisi in june,[58] the bronze of the 2022 Judo Grand Slam Budapest[59] and the bronze of the 2022 Judo Grand Prix Zagreb, in july.[60] In October 2022, she made history by becoming the first Brazilian three-time judo world champion, at the 2022 World Judo Championships. In the quarter-finals, she defeated German Alina Boehm, current European champion. In the semifinals, she defeated Hamada Shori, the current Olympic champion, by ippon. The gold was won against Chinese Zhenzhao Ma.[61] And, at the end of the year, when she was 2nd in the world rankings in her category, she won a bronze in the 2022 Judo World Masters in Jerusalem, thus returning to the lead in the world rankings.[62][63]
After the 2022 Masters, Aguiar was away from competition for nine months, to rest and treat minor injuries. She returned in September 2023, at the Pan American Judo Championship. At the 2023 Pan American-Oceania Judo Championships, held in Calgary, Canada, she became eight-time champion of the competition.[64][65] Still in September, she was a bronze medalist at the 2023 Judo Grand Slam Baku,[66] and in December, she secured an unprecedented gold for Brazilian judo by winning the 2023 Judo Grand Slam Tokyo. The only Brazilian champion in Japan until then was Sergio Pessoa, who won the Jigoro Kano Cup in 1986, in a different format than the current one.[67]
Achievements
Aguiar with her bronze medal obtained at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Sports in Brazil are those that are widely practiced and popular in the country, as well as others which originated there or have some cultural significance. Brazilians are heavily involved in sports. Football is the most popular sport in Brazil. Other than football, sports like volleyball, mixed martial arts, basketball, tennis, and motor sports, especially Formula One, enjoy high levels of popularity.
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