Mayra Aguiar hungry and still going strong

Mayra Aguiar won gold at the just-concluded 2022 Pan American Oceania Championships in Lima, Peru. This is her seventh Pan-American Championships title and she also has a Pan-American Games gold medal.

Her medal collection at the World Championships level is very impressive. She has two golds, one silver and three bronzes, giving her a total of six World medals. Although she is not an Olympic champion, she has three Olympic bronzes from three consecutive Olympics (2021, 2016 and 2012).

She is the first Brazilian woman to win three Olympic medals in an individual sport, and is considered to be among the most talented Brazilian judokas ever.

Aguiar’s home club is Sogipa, which is also the home of World Champions Joao Derly and Tiago Camilo, whom Aguiar considers to be her heroes.

She has a unique drop tai-otoshi which she does from a high grip over her opponent’s back. When they hit the ground, sometimes she lifts her lead leg, making the throw more of an uchimata. But it always starts off as a drop tai-otoshi. It’s a very effective technique and she has used it to beat many top players, including her rival, double Olympic Champion Kayla Harrison.

Aguiar and Harrison had a whopping 17 international matches against each other, and the results were pretty evenly split, with Aguiar winning eight times and Harrison winning nine. It is one of the fiercest rivalry in judo.

Today, Harrison is a successful MMA star but Aguiar, now 30 years old, is still going strong in judo.