After His Silver in Warsaw, Leandro Guilheiro Climbs 76 Positions in the World Ranking
Twice Olympic medalist, the judoka won his first medal after a two year- break due to injury.
Despite his defeat against the Southern Korean Ki-Chun Wang in the final of the Warsaw Open held on Sunday, Leandro Guilheiro had many reasons to celebrate this second place. Thanks to the medal, the first one since his coming back after a two year-break due to injury, the judoka climbed 76 positions in the IJF’s world ranking and he now holds the 99th position. A significant step for somebody who still dreams of the Olympics.
Twice Olympic medalist – bronze-awarded in Athens and Beijing - Leandro is now targeting his third participation in the Olympic Games. A serious injury to the cruciate ligament of his right knee made the 31 old-judoka’s life in this Olympic cycle and he had to start almost from scratch after two years without competing, and therefore without scoring.
If he wants to be in Rio 2016, however, Leandro will have to score even more and overcome Victor Penalber, who is the current fourth athlete placed in the world ranking and who is the best ranked Brazilian in the up-to- 81kg- category, the same as Guilheiro’s. This is because there is only one athlete from each category qualified for the Games. And the selection criteria used by BJC is the judoka's position in the world ranking. Therefore, these 76 positions were important to Leandro.
