Danielle Zangrando (born 25 July 1979 in São Paulo) is a retired Brazilian

judoka is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...

who competed in the women's lightweight category. She picked up a total of thirty medals in her career, including three from the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

(1995, 1999, and 2007), and a bronze from the

1995 World Judo Championships The 1995 World Judo Championships were the 19th edition of the World Judo Championships, and were held in Chiba, Japan in 1995. Medal overview Men Women Medal table Results overview Men 60 kg 65 kg 71 kg 78 kg 86 kg 95 kg + ...

Chiba, Japan is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to the n ...

, and also appeared in the 57-kg class in two editions of the Olympic Games (1996 and 2004). Growing up in Santos, Zangrando took up judo at the age of 5 following her brother to the dojo of sensei Paulo Duarte. Throughout most of her sporting career, Zangrando trained under Duarte as a full-fledged member of the judo squad for

Santos FC Judô Santos Futebol Clube ( ''Santos Football Club''), also known as Santos and familiarly as Peixe,Pronounced . is a Brazilian professional judo club, based in Santos, Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of B ...

. As a 16-year-old neophyte to the sport, Zangrando reached the pinnacle of her judo career at the

, where she became the first ever Brazilian female to pick up a bronze medal in the lightweight category. Zangrando's remarkable result marked her official debut on the Brazilian team to compete in the same division at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

in Atlanta. Being inexperienced to the senior stint, Zangrando succumbed her opening match to an ippon and a tsurikomi goshi (lifting and pulling hip throw) assault from Hungary's

Maria Pekli Maria Pekli (born 12 June 1972 in Baja, Hungary) is an Australian judoka of Hungarian descent. She was Australian Champion in the u/57 kg division for seven consecutive years, between 1997 and 2003. She won a bronze medal in the lightwei ...

. She managed to collect another bronze in the 57-kg division at the

1999 Pan American Games The 1999 Pan American Games, officially the XIII Pan American Games or the 13th Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event that was held from July 23 to August 8, 1999, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and surrounding towns and ...

in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, but missed a chance to campaign for her 2000 Olympic bid due to spinal disc herniation, nearly reaching her early retirement from judo. Coming out of temporary halt, Zangrando paved her stretch to qualify for her second Brazilian judo squad, as a 25-year-old, in the women's lightweight class (57 kg) at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

in Athens. She placed first in her own division from the Pan American Judo Championships in Margarita Island, Venezuela to guarantee her spot on the Brazilian team for the first time in eight years. Zangrando got off to a firm start with an effortless victory over China's

Liu Yuxiang Liu Yuxiang (; born 11 October 1975 in Hengyang, Hunan) is a Chinese judoka who competed in the 2000 Summer Olympics and in the 2004 Summer Olympics. Liu won abronze medal in the half lightweight class in 2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png ...

, before falling short in the quarterfinals by an ippon and an uchi mata (inner thigh throw) from Dutch judoka

Deborah Gravenstijn Dibora Monick Olga "Deborah" Gravenstijn (born 20 August 1974 in Tholen, Zeeland) is a Dutch judoka and Captain in the Royal Netherlands Air Force. She won a bronze medal in the class Women's 57 kg at the 2004 Summer Olympics and a silver meda ...

. In the repechage round, Zangrando lost to Italy's

Cinzia Cavazzuti Cinzia Cavazzuti (born 12 September 1973) is an Italian former judoka who competed in the 2000 Summer Olympics and in the 2004 Summer Olympics. References External links

* * 1973 births Living people Italian female judoka Olympic ju ...

on a thirteen-second

waza-ari is the second highest score a fighter can achieve in a Japanese martial arts '' ippon'' or ''waza-ari'' contest, usually judo, karate or jujutsu. ''Waza-ari'' in judo A ''waza-ari'' is the second highest score a fighter can achieve in judo, t ...

tiebreaker after she received a yuko and conceded with only three shido penalties over her opponent by four, resulting to her elimination from the tournament. When her country Brazil hosted the

2007 Pan American Games The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games, were a major continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of 5,633 athletes from 42 National Olympic Com ...

in Rio de Janeiro, Zangrando overpowered U.S. judoka

Valerie Gotay Valerie Lafon-Gotay (born November 5, 1973 in San Diego, California) is a former judoka from the United States. Biography Gotay was born in San Diego. Her grandfather Piere Lafon and father Gerald Lafon are former judoplayers so she ...

to claim her first and only career gold in the 57-kg division by the enchantment of her home crowd. Although she decided not to pursue her third Olympic bid, Zangrando added a silver to her career hardware in the same category at the

2009 Pan American Judo Championships The 2009 Pan American Judo Championships was held in Centro Nacional de Alto Rendimiento Deportivo in Buenos Aires, Argentina from 26 March to 27 March 2009. Medal overview Men's events Women's events Medals table External links * USA ...

Buenos Aires, Argentina Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, losing the final to Cuba's Yurisleydis Lupetey. The following year, Zangrando officially announced her retirement from the sport. Zangrando was already in law school when ESPN Brasil invited her to comment on the judo tournament for the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

. The experience made Zangrando interested in studying journalism following her law degree. Following her graduation, Zangrando has been a sports reporter for Terra Networks, Rede Globo and ESPN.

References

External links

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UOL Esporte Bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zangrando, Danielle 1979 births Living people Olympic judoka of Brazil Judoka at the 1996 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2004 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2007 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for Brazil Pan American Games bronze medalists for Brazil Sportspeople from São Paulo Sportspeople from Santos, São Paulo Brazilian female judoka Pan American Games medalists in judo Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games 20th-century Brazilian women 21st-century Brazilian women