--- title: Rafaela Silva Wins Brazil's First Gold Medal description: Rafaela Silva, a judoka who grew up fighting in one of Rio’s impoverished favelas beat Sumiya Dorjsuren of Mongolia in judo canonical: https://time.com/4444149/rio-olympics-brazil-rafaela-silva-judo-gold-medal/ author: Sean Gregory article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-08T21:19:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-01-15T17:54:34.000Z article:section: Sports og:title: Martial Artist Rafaela Silva Wins Brazil's First Gold Medal og:description: Score one for the home team og:url: https://time.com/4444149/rio-olympics-brazil-rafaela-silva-judo-gold-medal/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24ff352beca70cee/6988a19a5f570f2b71b22216/rafaela-silva.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Judo - Women -57 kg Final - Gold Medal Contest og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Martial Artist Rafaela Silva Wins Brazil's First Gold Medal twitter:description: Score one for the home team twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24ff352beca70cee/6988a19a5f570f2b71b22216/rafaela-silva.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Martial Artist Rafaela Silva Wins Brazil's First Gold Medal of the 2016 Olympics > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Sean Gregory/Rio de Janeiro](https://time.com/author/sean-gregory/)  ## Sean Gregory/Rio de Janeiro Senior Correspondent Updated: Jan 15, 2026 5:54 PM UTCPublished: Aug 8, 2016 9:19 PM UTC  Brazil's Rafaela Silva celebrates after winning the gold medal of the women's 57-kg judo competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 8, 2016. Brazil's Rafaela Silva celebrates after winning the gold medal of the women's 57-kg judo competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 8, 2016.Kai Pfaffenbach—Reuters  by [Sean Gregory/Rio de Janeiro](https://time.com/author/sean-gregory/)  ## Sean Gregory/Rio de Janeiro Senior Correspondent Updated: Jan 15, 2026 5:54 PM UTCPublished: Aug 8, 2016 9:19 PM UTC Brazil breathes. Rio roared. The [home team](http://time.com/4442022/rio-2016-olympics-beach-volleyball-copacabana/) has won its first gold medal. Rafaela Silva, a judoka who grew up fighting in one of Rio’s impoverished favelas – Cidade de Deus, “the City of God,” an area just five miles from the site of the Olympic judo competition – beat Sumiya Dorjsuren of Mongolia on Monday afternoon in the 57 kg gold medal match, clinching the host country’s first gold of the games. Judo’s a popular school sport in the country, and after Sarah Menezes, who won the 48 kg competition in London, failed to win a medal on Saturday, a slight panic settled in. “Amazing, totally amazing,” said Tomaz Segundo, a doctor from the northeastern Brazilian city of Natal, a spectator at the match. “She’s a hero, coming from the poor area. What a relief.” Silva developed her aggression trying to survive in her violent neighborhood, which has been “pacified” — or taken over by military police. Still, it’s a violent area. “My first coach and teacher always told me that I had a tendency toward aggressiveness,” Silva said. “He sort of noticed I had a skill. I was always climbing over walls, to get a kite that might have fallen down out of the sky.” Silva’s arisen as a symbol of hope in the favelas. “I had a dream,” Silva said. “And those kids have their dreams too. If you can achieve your dreams through sports, do it. Hopefully I can be an example.” At the London Games, Silva was disqualified for making an illegal move; she received racist abuse online, Silva said she was called “a monkey in a cage.” She almost quit the sport. “It was very difficult to overcome the problems of 2012,” said Silva. “But I insisted that judo was my life.” She stuck with it, and Brazil has it’s first feel-good story of the [games](http://time.com/4442139/rio-2016-olympics-gymnastics-events-how-to-watch/). (If only the men’s soccer team, which hasn’t scored a goal in group play, and is in danger of being eliminated, can follow suit). Brazil’s thirsting for medals at these Rio Olympics; Silva says even her family and friends have been pressuring her to deliver gold. She feels the country’s sports anxiety. “Of course we would have loved to win more medals \[up to this point,” says Silva. He hopes her win “will just be a door, that will open the way for Brazil to win more medals.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4444149/rio-olympics-brazil-rafaela-silva-judo-gold-medal/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4444149/rio-olympics-brazil-rafaela-silva-judo-gold-medal/"},"headline":"Martial Artist Rafaela Silva Wins Brazil's First Gold Medal of the 2016 Olympics","datePublished":"2016-08-08T21:19:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-01-15T17:54:34.000Z","description":"Score one for the home team","url":"https://time.com/4444149/rio-olympics-brazil-rafaela-silva-judo-gold-medal/","keywords":["2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics","Summer Olympics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24ff352beca70cee/6988a19a5f570f2b71b22216/rafaela-silva.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sean Gregory/Rio de Janeiro"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24ff352beca70cee/6988a19a5f570f2b71b22216/rafaela-silva.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Judo - Women -57 kg Final - Gold Medal Contest","caption":"2016 Rio Olympics - Judo - Final - Women -57 kg Final - Gold Medal Contest - Carioca Arena 2 - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - 08/08/2016. 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