Danielle Zangrando (born 25 July 1979 in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

) is a retired Brazilian

judoka is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, 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 Encyc ...

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, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

(1995, 1999, and 2007), and a bronze from the 1995 World Judo Championships in Chiba, Japan, and also appeared in the 57-kg class in two editions of the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

(1996 and 2004). Growing up in Santos, Zangrando took up judo at the age of 5 following her brother to the dojo of

sensei The term "先生", read in Chinese, in Japanese, in Korean, and in Vietnamese, is an honorific used in the Sinosphere. In Japanese, the term literally means "person born before another" or "one who comes before". It is generally used ...

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. As a 16-year-old neophyte to the sport, Zangrando reached the pinnacle of her judo career at the 1995 World Judo Championships in Chiba, Japan, 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, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. Being inexperienced to the senior stint, Zangrando succumbed her opening match to an

ippon is the highest score a fighter can achieve in a Japanese martial arts ''ippon-wazari'' contest, usually kendo, judo, karate or jujitsu. In judo In judo, an ''ippon'' may be scored for a throw, a pin, a choke or a jointlock. For throws, the ...

and a

tsurikomi goshi , is one of the original 40 throws of Judo as developed by Jigoro Kano. It belongs to the second group, Dai Nikyo, of the traditional throwing list, Gokyo (no waza), of Kodokan Judo. It is also part of the current 67 Throws of Kodokan Judo. It i ...

(lifting and pulling hip throw) assault from Hungary's Maria Pekli. 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 and commonly known as Winnipeg 1999, were a major international multi-sport event that was held from July 23 to August 8, 1999, in Winnipeg, Ma ...

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

, Canada, but missed a chance to campaign for her 2000 Olympic bid due to

spinal disc herniation A disc herniation or spinal disc herniation is an injury to the intervertebral disc between two vertebrae, usually caused by excessive strain or trauma to the spine. It may result in back pain, pain or sensation in different parts of the body, ...

, 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 (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. She placed first in her own division from the Pan American Judo Championships in

Margarita Island Margarita Island (, ) is the largest island in the States of Venezuela, Venezuelan state of Nueva Esparta, situated off the north west coast of the country, in the Caribbean Sea. The capital city of Nueva Esparta, La Asunción, is located on the ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

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, before falling short in the quarterfinals by an

and an

uchi mata is one of the original 40 throws of Judo as developed by Kanō Jigorō. It belongs to the second group, Dai Nikyo, of the traditional throwing list, Gokyo (no waza), of Kodokan Judo. It is also part of the current 67 Throws of Kodokan Judo. It ...

(inner thigh throw) from Dutch judoka Deborah Gravenstijn. In the repechage round, Zangrando lost to Italy's Cinzia Cavazzuti 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, th ...

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 () and commonly known as Rio 2007, were a major Americas, continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, Zangrando overpowered U.S. judoka Valerie Gotay 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 in

Buenos Aires, Argentina Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, 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 ESPN is the Brazilian division of ESPN Inc. Launched in March 1989 as Canal+, it was the first country-specific version of ESPN outside the United States, launched in June 1995. The channel has covered major sporting events, like the 1996 Summer ...

invited her to comment on the judo tournament for the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

. The experience made Zangrando interested in studying journalism following her law degree. Following her graduation, Zangrando has been a sports reporter for

Terra Networks Terra was a Spanish Internet multinational company owned by Telefónica. It was headquartered in Spain and had offices in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, the United States and Peru. Part of the Telefónica Group (the former Spanish public tele ...

Rede Globo TV Globo (stylized as tvglobo; , ), formerly known as Rede Globo de Televisão (; shortened to Rede Globo) or simply known as Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto Marinho on 26 April 1965 ...

and ESPN.

References

External links

* * *
UOL Esporte Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zangrando, Danielle 1979 births Living people Olympic judoka for 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 Judoka from São Paulo Sportspeople from Santos, São Paulo Martial artists from São Paulo (state) Brazilian female judoka Pan American Games gold medalists in judo Pan American Games bronze medalists in judo Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games 20th-century Brazilian sportswomen 21st-century Brazilian sportswomen