Natália Falavigna da Silva (born May 9, 1984 in

Maringá Maringá () is a municipality in southern Brazil founded on 10 May 1947 as a planned urban area. It is the third largest city in the state of Paraná, with 385,753 inhabitants in the city proper, and 764,906 in the metropolitan area (IBGE 2013). ...

''Guia do Pan – XV Jogos Pan-Americanos''. Rio de Janeiro: Lance!, 2007) is a

taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...

athlete from

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. She finished in the fourth place in the women's 67-kilogram category in taekwondo 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), ...

on August 26, and won the bronze medal at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

. It was the first Brazilian Olympic medal ever in taekwondo.

Personal life

Falavigna was born in

, and grew up in another city in the

Paraná state Paraná, Paranã or Parana may refer to: Geology *Paraná Basin, a sedimentary basin in South America Places In Argentina * Paraná, Entre Ríos, a city * Paraná Department, a part of Entre Ríos Province * Paraná, Buenos Aires, a settlemen ...

Londrina Londrina (, literally "Little London") is a city located in the north of the state of Paraná, South Region, Brazil, and is away from the state capital, Curitiba. It is the second largest city in the state and fourth largest in the southern regi ...

. At the age of four, she saw

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, 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 Nipponi ...

Aurélio Miguel Aurélio Fernández Miguel (born March 10, 1964) is a Brazilian judoka and Olympic champion, and later politician. Among his best sporting achievements are his gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, and a bronze medal at the 1996 Summ ...

win a gold medal in the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

and was inspired to become an athlete. She practiced volleyball, basketball, soccer, swimming, and the first she dedicated the most, handball. In 1998, Falavigna was introduced by a friend to

, and while the first classes were "by impulse", the coach said Falavigna had potential and could become world champion. Two years later, she won the World Junior Taekwondo Championships in Ireland, becoming the first Brazilian to do so. In the four years that followed, Falavigna ended up on the top three in 9 of the 11 international competitions she entered. In 2003, Falavigna entered a state of depression and even considered trading taekwondo for tennis, but found a new strength to the sport after winning silver at the

2003 Summer Universiade The 2003 Summer Universiade, also known as the XXII Summer Universiade, took place in Daegu, South Korea. Emblem * The alphabet letter "U" and five stars, which is FISU's emblem, make up the basis of the emblem for the Daegu Universiade. * It sym ...

Achievements

Natália Falavigna won the following competitions: * World Taekwondo Championship: 2005 * World University Taekwondo Championship: 2006 * World Junior Taekwondo Championship: 2000

Awards

Falavigna won the Brazilian Olympic Award's Women's Best Athlete of the Year in 2005, and also won the 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, and 2009 Best Taekwondo Athlete.

Career

2000 World Junior Taekwondo Championship

In 2000, two years after starting practicing taekwondo, Falavigna won the World Youth Taekwondo Championship, held in

Killarney Killarney ( ; ga, Cill Airne , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Castl ...

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

. It was the first international tournament that she participated in.

2001 World Taekwondo Championship

In 2001, in the World Taekwondo Championship held in

Jeju Jeju may refer to: * Jeju Island (Jejudo), an island near South Korea * Jeju Province (formerly transliterated Cheju), a province of South Korea comprising Jejudo **Jeju City, the biggest city on Jejudo **Jeju dog, a dog native to Jejudo ** Jeju l ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, Natália Falavigna won the bronze medal.

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), ...

Natália Falavigna competed for the first time in the Olympics in 2004, when she finished in the fourth place in the competition. She was defeated in the semifinal by

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

Chen Zhong Chen Zhong (; born November 22, 1982) is a retired Chinese taekwondo competitor who represented her country at international level for more than 10 years, including three consecutive Summer Olympic Games. She won China's first Olympic gold med ...

. In the

Repechage Repechage (; french: repêchage, "fishing out, rescuing") is a practice in series competitions that allows participants who failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round. A well known example is the wild car ...

semifinals she defeated

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Daniela Castrignano, but was beaten by

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

Adriana Carmona Adriana Carmona (born December 3, 1972 in Puerto La Cruz) is a Venezuelan taekwondo practitioner and Olympic medalist. Olympic Games She competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, where she received a bronze medal in the +67 kg class ...

in the bronze medal match.

2005 World Taekwondo Championship

In 2005, in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, Natália Falavigna defeated

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Sarah Stevenson Sarah Diana Stevenson, MBE (born 30 March 1983) is a British taekwondo athlete. A world champion in 2001, Stevenson won her country's first ever Olympic medal in taekwondo, a bronze, at the 2008 Games in Beijing, her third Ol ...

in the final, and won the World Taekwondo Championship.

2007 World Taekwondo Championship

Falavigna won the bronze medal in the 2007 World Taekwondo Championship held in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

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 ...

Natália Falavigna performed the oath of the athletes at the opening ceremony of the Fifteenth Pan American Games in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. She won the silver medal at the women's +67-kilogram category. Falavigna defeated Venezuelan Aura Paez in the semifinals, but was defeated by

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

María del Rosario Espinoza in the gold medal match.

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

The 2008 Olympic Games, held in Beijing, China, was Natália Falavigna's second participation in the Olympics. In the first stage, she defeated 3–1 the Greek Kyriaki Kouvari. In the quarterfinals, Natália Falavigna beat the Australian

Carmen Marton Carmen Marton (born 30 June 1986) is a taekwondo athlete from Australia. She is Australia's first ever world taekwondo champion. Marton is of Polish Australian descent, since her parents were born in Poland and came to Australia as refugees. ...

5–2, but she was defeated by

Nina Solheim Nina Solheim (born 4 August 1979) is a Norwegian taekwondo practitioner. She won a silver medal in the women's heavyweight (+67 kg) division at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, beaten by Mexican María del Rosario Espinoza i ...

of Norway in the semifinals. Falavigna won the bronze medal after beating the Swedish Karolina Kedzierska 5–2 in the bronze medal match of the Repechage. Natália Falavigna's bronze medal was Brazil's first Olympic medal ever in taekwondo.

2009 World Taekwondo Championship

In 2009, in the World Taekwondo Championship held in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, Natália Falavigna won the bronze medal.

References

External links

Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Falavigna, Natalia 1984 births Living people Brazilian people of Italian descent Brazilian female taekwondo practitioners Olympic taekwondo practitioners of Brazil Olympic bronze medalists for Brazil Taekwondo practitioners at the 2004 Summer Olympics Taekwondo practitioners at the 2007 Pan American Games Taekwondo practitioners at the 2008 Summer Olympics Taekwondo practitioners at the 2011 Pan American Games Taekwondo practitioners at the 2012 Summer Olympics People from Maringá Olympic medalists in taekwondo Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Pan American Games silver medalists for Brazil Pan American Games medalists in taekwondo Universiade medalists in taekwondo South American Games gold medalists for Brazil South American Games silver medalists for Brazil South American Games medalists in taekwondo Competitors at the 2002 South American Games Competitors at the 2014 South American Games Universiade gold medalists for Brazil Universiade silver medalists for Brazil World Taekwondo Championships medalists Medalists at the 2003 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2009 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games Sportspeople from Paraná (state) 21st-century Brazilian women