Larissa Pimenta
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Larissa Cincinato Pimenta (born 1 March 1999) is a Brazilian judoka.[1][2] A two-time Olympian, she won the bronze medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. At the 2019 Pan American Games held in Lima, Peru, she won the gold medal in the 52 kg event.[3] She is also a five-time gold medalist in her event at the Pan American Judo Championships.
2018–2020
At 19 years old, Pimenta won the gold medal in the women's 52 kg event at the 2018 South American Games held in Cochabamba, Bolivia.[4]
Pimenta obtained a bronze medal at the 2019 Judo Grand Prix Tbilisi, her first in Grand Prix tournaments.[5] At the 2019 Judo Grand Prix Antalya she took her second bronze in a row.[6] At the 2019 Pan American Judo Championships, held in Lima, Peru, Pimenta won the gold medal in the 52 kg event.[7][8] She reached the podium for the first time in a Grand Slam (the tournament that gives the most points in the judo ranking after the Olympic Games, the World Championships and the World Masters) at the 2019 Judo Grand Slam Baku, obtaining a bronze.[9] She obtained her biggest career title to date by winning the 2019 Pan American Games.[10] In that same year, she competed in the women's 52 kg event at the 2019 World Judo Championships held in Tokyo, Japan.[11] Pimenta won her first match, against Raguib Abdourahman of Djibouti, but was eliminated in her next match, against Uta Abe of Japan, who went on to win the gold medal and would later become Olympic champion.[12] In October she was also a silver medalist in the 2019 Judo Grand Slam Brasilia.[13]
In February 2020, Pimenta won bronze at the 2020 Judo Grand Slam Paris by defeating Sarah Menezes.[14] In November 2020, she also won one of the bronze medals in the women's 52 kg event at the Pan American Judo Championships held in Guadalajara, Mexico.[15][16]
In 2021, she competed in the women's 52 kg event at the Judo World Masters held in Doha, Qatar, being surpassed by ippon in the first fight by South Korean Park Da-sol.[17][18] In March 2021 she finished 5th in the 2021 Judo Grand Slam Tbilisi.[19] In April, she secured the gold medal in her event at the 2021 Pan American Judo Championships held in Guadalajara, Mexico.[20] In June 2021, Pimenta won one of the bronze medals in the mixed team event at the 2021 World Judo Championships held in Budapest, Hungary. She also competed in the women's 52 kg event where she was eliminated in her second match.[21][22]
2020 Summer Olympics
In 2021, Pimenta represented Brazil at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. She competed in the women's 52 kg event where she was eliminated in her second match by eventual gold medalist Uta Abe of Japan.[23] Pimenta was also part of the mixed teams competition, losing her fights for twice facing competitors in higher weight categories.[24]
2021–2024
Pimenta won gold at the 2022 Pan American-Oceania Judo Championships in Lima, becoming three-time champion of the competition.[25] She reached the quarterfinals of the 2022 World Judo Championships, but then lost two fights in a row, finishing in 7th place.[26]
In February 2023, he achieved a bronze at the 2023 Judo Grand Slam Tel Aviv.[27] Pimenta won gold at the 2023 Pan American-Oceania Judo Championships in Calgary, becoming four-time champion of the competition.[28] With the gold medal at the 2023 Pan American Games, she became two-time champion of the competition, in addition to, later, in the same competition, winning a silver medal with the Brazilian mixed team.[29][30] She also finished 5th in the 2023 Judo Grand Slam Tokyo.[31]
In March 2024, she obtained her first title at Grand Prix level by obtaining gold in the 2024 Judo Grand Prix Linz.[32] Pimenta won gold at the 2024 Pan American-Oceania Judo Championships in Rio de Janeiro, becoming five-time champion of the competition.[33] She got the silver medal at the 2024 Judo Grand Slam Astana.[34] At the 2024 World Judo Championships, Pimenta repeated her 2022 performance, where she reached the quarterfinals, but subsequently lost two fights, finishing in 7th place. Odette Giuffrida, who beat Pimenta in the quarterfinals, ended up as tournament champion.[35]
2024 Summer Olympics
At the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Pimenta reached the quarterfinals by defeating Olympic bronze medalist and world runner-up Chelsie Giles. There, she lost to another Tokyo Olympic medalist, Amandine Buchard, going to the repechage. She defeated 2024 World Championship bronze medalist Mascha Ballhaus and in the bronze match, she defeated world champion and Olympic runner-up Odette Giuffrida to win the bronze medal, the first ever Olympic medal won by a woman athlete from the Esporte Clube Pinheiros club.[36][37] While this time Pimenta did not fight in the mixed team competition, she still won a bronze medal for being listed as a possible contestant.[38]
