Second Placed in the World Ranking, Rafaela Silva Is Looking for Her Second World Gold
The 22 year-old athlete, Rafaela Silva, who fights in the lightweight category (57kg), participated in the London 2012 Olympics, in which she did not reach the podium. However, after pulling herself, she was the first woman to become world champion last year, in Rio de Janeiro. From 11 days on, Rafaela Silva will have the opportunity to make history once again and win the world championship, this time in Chelyabinsk / RUS. Second placed in world rankings, behind the German Myriam Roper for only a 12 point-difference, the Brazilian judoka is confident.
"I have been training very hard. I attended as many competitions as I could to be able to test my level. I also studied a lot of the opponents, analyzing videos of fights of other competitions. I'm well prepared and I think I will fight for the title again, “the confident athlete said.
According to the schedule of the technical committee, Rafaela Silva has been participating, together with the Brazilian team, in several trainings throughout the year. The last one was in Russia and Germany, together with local judokas and others coming from Austria, Slovenia, Luxembourg, Kosovo, France, Morocco and the Netherlands.
"Russia and Germany are traditional judo countries and many high-level athletes trained with us. In judo, training with someone who is as strong as or stronger than you is one of the ways to evolve. So I think everyone came out from the training more prepared than before, "said the Carioca female judoka who also trained early this year in Japan, the judo’s birthplace.
Just before boarding, Rafaela Silva seemed excited with the group and said that Brazil can expect the best of the entire team. "The Brazilian team is ready and eager to win. Today all of us will fly together, which is very good because we become a strong group right from here. Now we have to stay focused and wait for the fighting, "she added.
Rafaela Silva fights on August 27th, the third day of competition. The other athletes will be entering the mats of Chelyabinsk from 25th to 30th. The teams competition will be held on August 31st.
