In a Brazil where the UN continues to denounce the discrimination of homosexuals and the growing lack of respect for the rights of women and girls to dignity and physical integrity, Rafaela Silva a symbol of courage and civil resistance.
Twenty-eight years, born and raised in extreme poverty in the infamous City of God slum, Rafaela as a child escaped violence and discrimination by dedicating herself body and soul to noble art of judo. Immense talent, world champion at just 20 years old, Silva wrote one of the most beautiful tales of carioca sport ai Rio de Janeiro Games 2016: conquered ithe first Olympic gold in judo in Brazilian history, at the foot of the podium he had the courage to do coming out about his homosexuality, becoming an idol of women and the invisible inhabitants of the capital’s barrios, until then focused only on the challenge of Neymar and his colleagues in football. Rafaela – said the IOC president, Thomas Bach – an extraordinary woman, a model not only for Brazil but also for the whole world.
A story with no happy ending: a few days ago, because of one or two puffs of a banal over-the-counter spray against asthma, the Court of Sports Arbitration of Lausanne (TAS) confirmed for the athlete the two-year disqualification imposed by the International Judo Federation last January. The facts date back to 2019: in Silva’s urine after the Pan American Games (won) there was fenoterolo, a bronchodilator included in the list of doping drugs that almost always produces slight disqualifications in those who test positive. In the registers of the sports courts there are in fact the month of suspension for the Paralympic cyclist Fabrizio Macchi, the five for the blue of swimming Mattia Aversa, the eight to the Slovenian hockey ace Ziga Jeglic and the full acquittal of the Carioca swimmer Ethiene Medeiros.
Instead, Rafaela went very badly: the Federation excluded her from the mat until November 2021, preventing her from defending her title at the Tokyo Games. She did not give up and for the recourse to the TAS she hired a very expensive prince of the Brazilian forum, Marcelo Franklin, who suggested that she go to the Swiss judges without admitting careless use (which almost always leads to a reduction of sentence) to a daring thesis to aim for full acquittal. Four days before the Pan-Americans, Rafaela had taken care of the child of a few months of training partner Flavia Rodrigues which would transmit the fenoterol with which the child was treated. The thesis did not convince the judges: two years of disqualification confirmed, the end of the Olympic dream and a very high fee to be paid to the lawyers.
Rafaela has no intention of giving up. He has already experienced and overcome many crises and difficult moments. She who in the favela was nicknamed macaque by the boys with whom she wanted to play football, she insulted for the very dark color of her skin, she who, very favorite at the London 2012 Games, was excluded in the second round for a (controversial) forbidden blow against the Hungarian Karakas. For an arduous sport like judo – said – P.arigi 2024 lontanissima. But I have no intention of getting off the mat with my legs.
January 3, 2021 (change January 3, 2021 | 23:51)
© REPRODUCTION RESERVED
