After reaching the podium four times at the Paris Olympics, Brazilian judo ends the year this weekend at the Grand Slam in Tokyo (Japan), one of the most competitive in the world. The team has nine athletes, three of them medalists in Paris 2024 such as Rafaela Silva, who will make her international debut in the welterweight category (63 kilos), Rafael Macedo (90 kg) and Leonardo Gonçalves (100 kg).
The eliminatory fights at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium begin at 10:30 pm (Brasília time) this Friday (6) and the finals will take place later, at 5 am on Saturday (7). The times will be the same from Saturday (7) to Sunday (8). The Grand Slam has live broadcast on the International Judo Federation (IJF) channel.
The last major competition of the season, with almost 300 judokas from 45 countries, kicks off the Olympic cycle of the Los Angeles 2028 Games. Home owner Japan, the world’s biggest power in the sport, will alone have 56 athletes.
Two-time world champion (2013 and 2022) and Olympic champion (Rio 2016) in the 57 kg, Rafaela Silva moved up a category this year, shortly after the end of the Paris Games. The Rio native made her debut at 63 kg at the beginning of November, when she won her first title as welterweight at the Brazil Trophy.
The team in Tokyo also has a silver medal in last year’s edition. Jéssica Lima (57 kg) returns to Tokyo in search of a new podium. The other members of the team are Natasha Ferreira (48 kg) and Bianca Reis (57 kg) and Dandara Camillo (78 kg) in the women’s competition; and Michel Augusto (60kg) and Ronald Lima (66 kg) in the men’s category.
Schedule
From Friday to Saturday
MASCULINE
60 kg – Michel Augusto x Dauren Syukenov (Kazakhstan) – round of 16;
66 kg – Ronald Lima x Jantsandorj Unirbat (Mongolia) – round of 16;
FEMININE
48 kg – Natasha Ferreira x duel winner Hikari Yoshioka (Japan) x Kyeongha Lee (South Korea);
57 kg – Jéssica Lima x winner of the duel Lea Wyss (LiechtensteinIE) x Hongsun Choo (South Korea);
57 kg – Bianca Reis x winner of the duel Moa Ono (Japan) x Yu Chieh-Yang (Taiwan);
63 kg – Rafaela Silva x Flavia Favorini (Italy) – round of 16;
From Saturday to Sunday
90 kg – Rafael Macedo x winner of the duel of Olekhsander Nyzhnyk (USA) x Anarbek Ishenbaev (Kyrgyzstan);
100 kg – Leonardo Gonçalves x Johannes Frey (Germany) – round of 16
