Champion Sarah Menezes carries home hopes on judo's first day
Competition will be tough, but national hero can count on home support at Rio 2016
Sarah Menezes is hoping to repeat her London 2012 triumph at Carioca Arena 2 (Photo: Getty Images/Buda Mendes/STF)
Brazil's main hopes rest with Olympic champion Sarah Menezes when the Rio 2016 Olympic Games judo competition gets underway pn the morning of Saturday 6 August) with the lightweight categories, women's -48kg and men's -60kg.
Menezes, the first female Brazilian judoka to claim an Olympic title, will be hoping to get the host nation off to the perfect start on the first full day of Games competition with a repeat of her London 2012 Olympic Games triumph.
The 26-year-old faces stiff competition from 2014 world champion Ami Kondo of Japan, who recently beat her in Mexico (see video below) and world No.1 Urantsetseg Munkhbat, who could become the first Mongolian woman to win gold at the Olympic Games.
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World champion Paula Pareto of Argentina is also a strong contender in this category as she bids to add another Olympic medal to her bronze from Beijing 2008.
The men's -60kg will have a new champion as the winner last time round, Russia's Arsen Galstyan, is not competing.
Korean Kim Won Jin tops the world rankings, but faces strong challenges from former world champions Yeldos Smetov of Kazakhstan and Japan's Naohisa Takato, along with world No.2 Orkhan Safarov of Azerbaijan.
The host nation's London 2012 bronze medallist Felipe Kitadai cannot be counted out either.
Competition at Carioca Arena 2 starts at 10:00 local time with the elimination rounds. Twenty-three women are entered in the -48kg while 35 men will compete at -60kg.
