There’s not much doubt that Brazil has been the top country in the Americas in judo since its excellent performance in Rio in 2016. The latest proof was at the Pan American Championships, where Brazil led the medal table with four golds, eight silvers and three bronzes.
The Brazilians picked up two 1-2 finishes, with Ivan Felipe Silva Morales and Rafael Macedo in the men’s 90 kg class and Rafael Silva and David Moura at +100 kg.
Canada also had four winners, plus two silvers and four bronzes (10 total), and also had a 1-2 in the men’s 81 kg division with Antoine Valois-Fortier and Etienne Briand.
There were two Rio 2016 gold winners in the tournament: Argentina’s gold medalist, Paula Pareto, won again in Lima at 48 kg, and Rafaela Silva, who won an emotional gold at 57 kg, won a silver in Lima. Summaries:
Pan American Championships
Lima (PER) ~ 27-28 April 2019
(Full results here)
Men
-60 kg: 1. Lenin Preciado (ECU); 2. Eric Takabatake (BRA); 3. Roberto Almenares (CUB) and Steven Moracho (ECU).
-66 kg: 1. Daniel Cargnin (BRA); 2. Juan Postigos (PER); 3. Orlando Polanco (CUB) and Jaciob Valois (CAN).
-73 kg: 1. Magdiel Estrada (CUB); 2. Arthur Margelidon (CAN); 3. Antoine Bouchard (CAN) and Sergio Mattey (VEN).
-81 kg: 1. Antoine Valois-Fortier (CAN); 2. Etienne Briand (CAN); 3. Jack Hatton (USA) and Eduardo Yudy Santos (BRA).
-90 kg: 1. Ivan Felipe Silva Morales (BRA); 2. Rafael Macedo (BRA); 3. Zachary Burt (CAN) and Robert Florentino (DOM).
-100 kg: 1. Shady Elnahas (CAN); 2. Leonardo Goncalves (BRA); 3. Thomas Briceno (CHI) and Liester Cardona (CUB).
+100 kg: 1. Rafael Silva (BRA); 2. David Moura (BRA); 3. Andy Granda (CUB) and Francisco Solis (CHI).
Women
-48 kg: 1. Paula Pareto (ARG); 2. Nathalia Brigida (BRA); 3. Edna Castillo (MEX) and Vanesa Godines Aleman (CUB).
-52 kg: 1. Larissa Pimenta (BRA); 2. Angelica Delgado (USA); 3. Brillith Gamarra Carbajal (PER) and Sarah Menezes (BRA).
-57 kg: 1. Christa Deguchi (CAN); 2. Rafaela Silva (BRA); 3. Anailys Dorvigny (CUB) and Ana Rosa (DOM).
-63 kg: 1. Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard (CAN); 2. Maylin del Toro Carvajal (CUB); 3. Estefania Garcia (CUB) and Hannah Martin (USA).
-70 kg: 1. Maria Perez (PUR); 2. Maria Portela (BRA); 3. Elvismar Rodriguez (VEN) and Kelita Zupancic (CAN).
-78 kg: 1. Mayra Aguiar (BRA); 2. Kaliema Antomarchi (CUB); 3. Lucia Cantero (ARG) and Nefeli Papadakis (USA).
+78 kg: 1. Idalys Ortiz (CUB); 2. Maria Suelen Altheman (BRA); 3. Melissa Mojica (PUR) and Beatriz Souza (BRA).