Rafael Carlos da Silva (; born 11 May 1987) is a Brazilian heavyweight judoka. He has three Olympic bronze medals (London 2012, Rio 2016, and Paris 2024) in addition to having 4 individual medals in World Judo Championships (one silver and three bronze), in addition to being a six-time Pan American Judo champion.
Early life Born in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, and raised in Rolândia, in the interior of Paraná, Silva only discovered judo at the age of 15, a very old age for top athletes. The difficulties brought about by the late start in the sport, such as the lack of technique and the basic fundamentals of judo, were overcome with a lot of training. With this, he managed to ascend quickly. In 2005 Rafael already represented Brazil internationally, even though he had only been in the sport for 3 years, and in 2006 Silva competed in the World Judo Juniors Championships in Santo Domingo. But it was in 2010 that Silva's results began to appear more prominently.Profile at OlimpiadaTodoDia
International career 2010–2012
At the 2010 South American Games he won three gold medals: in the Men's +100 kg, Men's Open and Men's Team category.Judocas garantem mais um ouro para o Brasil em MedellínProfile at OlimpiadaTodoDia
In 2010, Silva competed in his first adult world championship, at the 2010 World Judo Championships, when he finished in fifth place.Profile at OlimpiadaTodoDia
In 2011, Silva competed in the Pan American Games for the first time, in Guadalajara, placing second in the Men's +100 kg category after losing the final to Cuban Oscar Bryson.Profile at OlimpiadaTodoDiaRafael Silva perde para cubano e fica com a prata no judô
At the end of 2011 he obtained his first medal in the Grand Slams (the tournament that gives the most points in the judo ranking after the Olympic Games, the World Championships and the World Masters) in Tokyo, where he obtained a bronze.Brasil conquista mais dois bronzes e termina Grand Slam de judô de Tóquio com 4 medalhas
Participating in the 2012 Judo World Masters (the second most important competition on the circuit after the World Championship), Silva won gold, defeating the 2010 world champion, the Japanese Daiki Kamikawa, by ippon in the final.Rafael Silva e Mayra Aguiar conquistam ouro no Masters de Judô de Almaty
At the 2012 Pan American Judo Championships held in Montreal, Canada, Silva, then third in the IJF (International Judo Federation) world rankings in the over 100 kg category, won what would become the first of many golds in this competition, defeating Cuban Oscar Brayson.Após superar "freguesia", Rafael Silva diz que Riner é o próximo
In 2012, he also won two silver medals at the Paris and Tokyo Grand Slams.Rafael Silva perde final para fenômeno francêsPesos-pesados brilham, e Brasil fecha o Grand Slam de Tóquio com 5 pódios
Throughout 2011 and 2012, the Brazilian established himself as one of the most promising judokas in the category, winning more than 11 medals on the World Circuit, including silver in the traditional Tokyo Grand Slam and the silver medal in the men's team world championship, in Salvador, Bahia.Profile at OlimpiadaTodoDia
2012 Summer Olympics
In 2012, Silva definitively joined the gallery of greatest Brazilian judokas, when he won the bronze medal at the London Olympic Games, the only one in Brazil's men's judo at that edition and the first medal in the Brazil's history of the heavyweight division. Silva maintained his excellent form throughout the 2016 Olympic cycle and came to lead the world rankings, ahead of Frenchman Teddy Riner, one of the biggest names in the history of world judo.Profile at OlimpiadaTodoDiaJudoca Rafael Silva conquista bronze em LondresJudoca Rafael Silva conquista bronze em Londres
2013–2016
At the 2013 Pan American Judo Championships, held in San Jose, Costa Rica, Silva became two-time champion of the Heavyweight category (+100 kg).Mayra Aguiar e Baby comandam show brasileiro no Pan de judô
At the 2013 Judo World Masters, Silva won the silver medal. Brasil conquista seis medalhas no Mundial Masters de Judô
At the 2013 Judo World Championship, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Silva reached the final, but lost to the legendary judoka Teddy Riner, who became six-time world champion. With this, he won the silver medal.Baby não resiste, fica com a prata, e gigante francês leva o hexa mundial
At the end of 2013, she won silver at the 2013 Judo Grand Slam Tokyo.Rafael Silva perde para coreano e fica com a prata no Grand Slam de Tóquio
At the 2014 Pan American Judo Championships, held in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Silva became three-time champion of the Heavyweight category (+100 kg).Brasil fatura mais três ouros no Pan-Americano de judô
Rafael Silva achieved his best performance in Grand Slams in Tyumen 2014, when he was champion, obtaining the gold medal.
At the 2014 World Judo Championships, held in Chelyabinsk, Russia, Rafael Silva reached the semifinals, once again having to face the invincible Teddy Riner (no one had managed to defeat him in the heavyweight category at a world championship). After losing the semifinal, he returned to the bronze medal, where he beat Dutchman Roy Meier and took bronze.Rafael Silva repete Olimpíada e leva bronze no MundialRafael Silva conquista medalha de bronze no Mundial de Judô
In April 2015, at the 2015 Pan American Judo Championships in Edmonton, he made a Brazilian final against David Moura, but was defeated, taking the silver medal.Rafael Silva luta para recuperar hegemonia no judô entre os pesados
In June 2015, he suffered an injury to his right pectoralis major muscle tendon during strength training and underwent a surgical procedure on June 30. As a result, he had to be removed from the 2015 Pan American Games, from the 2015 World Judo Championships and was unable to compete for the rest of the year.Judoca Rafael Silva é cortado do Pan por lesão e David Moura é convocadoRafael Silva luta para recuperar hegemonia no judô entre os pesados
In 2016, Silva fought to recover from his injury and get back ahead of his compatriot David Moura to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. At the 2016 Pan American Judo Championships in Havana, with a new final between Silva and Moura, Silva this time won and became four-time champion of the tournament.Baby vence David Moura e larga na frente por vaga no judô na Rio-2016
2016 Summer Olympics
At the 2016 Summer Olympics, Silva won again the bronze medal in the Men's +100 kg, losing only to Teddy Riner.
2017–2020 At the 2017 Judo Grand Slam Paris, Silva won a bronze medal.Rafael Silva ‘Baby’ conquista bronze no Grand Slam de Paris
At the 2017 World Judo Championships held in Budapest, Hungary, Silva beat Ushangi Kokauri, from Azerbaijan, in his debut, by ippon. Next, against the Romanian Daniel Natea, he won by waza-ari. The next rival was Tunisian Faicel Jaballah. Once again, Rafael Silva managed to win by ippon. In the quarterfinals, he faced Teddy Riner, who hadn't lost a fight in 7 years, and had no chance. The Frenchman applied two waza-aris and immobilized the Brazilian for 20 seconds, winning by ippon, pushing Slva into the repechage. To continue dreaming of a medal, Silva needed to get past Austrian Daniel Allerstorfer. The fight was tough and led to the golden score with one penalty against the Brazilian, and two against Allerstorfer. After almost six minutes of fighting, the Austrian was punished again and lost the fight. In the bronze dispute, the rival was Borna Bor. The Hungarian, supported by the fans, did well, but the Brazilian's experience counted more. The fight once again went to the golden score. After 6min18s, Bor received the second shido, and Silva celebrated bronze - his third individual medal at world championships (silver in Rio 2013, bronze in Chelyabinsk 2014 and Budapest 2017).David Moura é prata, e Baby leva o bronze. Teddy Riner é campeão mundial de novo In the mixed team modality, he won a silver medal representing Brazil.
At the 2017 Judo World Masters, Silva won the bronze medal.Maria Portela é campeã e Brasil encerra temporada 2017 com cinco pódios no World Masters de São Petersburgo de Judô
At the 2018 Judo Grand Slam Ekaterinburg, Silva won a bronze medal.Maria Portela é ouro e judô brasileiro encerra Grand Slam da Rússia com oito pódios
At the 2018 World Judo Championships held in Baku, Azerbaijan, Silva lost in the first round to the Japanese Hisayoshi Harasawa, Olympic runner-up at the Rio 2016 Games. He wasn't well in the rankings because he fought little during this period, so he was unlucky enough to fall against one of the top fighters in the category.Flávio Canto analisa o Brasil no Mundial de Judô e diz: ‘Liga o alarme’
At the 2018 Judo World Masters, Silva won the silver medal.World Masters de Judô: Brasil ganha uma prata e dois bronzes
At the 2019 Judo Grand Slam Ekaterinburg, Silva won a bronze medal.Pesos pesados brilham na Rússia, conquistando ouro e bronze em Grand Slam
At the 2019 Pan American Judo Championships held in Lima, Peru, in another Brazilian final with Silva facing David Moura for the 3rd time in the finals of this tournament, Silva obtained his fifth gold in Pan American Judo Championships.Em final brasileira, Baby conquista o ouro no Pan-Americano de judô In the mixed team modality, he won a gold medal representing Brazil.
At the 2019 World Judo Championships held in Tokyo, Japan, Silva reached the quarterfinals, losing to Japanese Hisayoshi Harasawa, the same way as in 2018. In the repechage, he reached the bronze medal match, but lost to Korean Kim Min-jong, finishing 5th.Mundial de Judô dia 7 In the mixed team modality, he won a bronze medal representing Brazil.Equipe mista conquista o bronze e Brasil sai de Tóquio com três terceiros lugares no Mundial
At the 2020 Judo Grand Slam Düsseldorf, Silva won the bronze medal.Mayra é prata e Rafael Silva fica com o bronze no último dia do Grand Slam de Düsseldorf
In 2020, he won the silver medal in the men's +100 kg event at the 2020 Pan American Judo Championships held in Guadalajara, Mexico.
At the 2021 Pan American Judo Championships held in Guadalajara, Mexico, in another Brazilian final with Silva (then 10th in the world) facing David Moura (then 11th in the world) for the 4th time in the finals of this tournament, Silva obtained his sixth gold in Pan American Judo Championships.Rafael Silva vence David Moura e leva o ouro no Pan de judô
He was a silver medalist at the Tbilisi and Kazan Grand Slams, before going to the 2021 World Championships.Rafael Silva conquista a prata no Grand Slam de TbilisiRafael Silva conquista medalha de prata em última competição antes do Mundial de Budapeste
At the 2021 World Judo Championships held in Budapest, Hungary, Silva had the same performance as in 2019: he reached the semifinals, but was defeated twice in a row, by the Japanese Kokoro Kageura and in the bronze match by the Dutchman Roy Meyer, finishing 5th again.Pesados garantem primeiras medalhas do Brasil no Mundial de judô In the mixed team modality, he won a bronze medal representing Brazil.Brasil bate a Rússia e é bronze por equipes mistas no Mundial de Judô
2020 Summer Olympics He represented Brazil at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Silva reached the quarterfinals, but lost to Georgian Guram Tushishvil. In the first repechage fight, he had to face Teddy Rinner, who had also been beaten, finishing in 7th place.Rafael Silva perde para lenda francesa e fica sem medalha em Tóquio
2021–2024 He won the silver medal in his event at the 2022 Judo Grand Slam Tel Aviv held in Tel Aviv, Israel.
At the 2022 Pan American-Oceania Judo Championships held in Lima, Peru, Silva reached the final, but lost by controversial shidos (judo punishments) against Cuban Andy Granda, obtaining silver.Brasil conquista 15 medalhas no Pan-Americano de Judô, em Lima, e fica em primeiro lugar geral no individual