From the favela to the top of the podium, Rafael Silva earned Brazil's first gold medal of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. It's hope for all of them.”The women's bronze medals went to Kaori Matsumoto of Japan — the defending Olympic champion — and Telma Monteiro of Portugal. But defending Olympic champion Sarah Menezes narrowly lost out on a bronze on Saturday in the 48-kilogram category, and so did Erika Miranda at 52 kilograms on Sunday. Silva, who is from Brazil's largest favela and trained at a judo dojo founded by former Olympic bronze medalist Flavio Canto, was in top form for much of the day. Silva, the country's first female world champion in judo, won the 57-kilogram division of the Japanese martial art on Monday as the crowd chanted “Rafa” and waved the green and yellow Brazilian flags.

Source: Los Angeles Times August 08, 2016 20:50 UTC