London 2012: Brazilian fighting for an Olympic first

when she was nine years old, after watching a demonstration at school.
“I’ve always liked challenges, since I was a kid,” she explains.
Sarah is third in the world ranking for her category (-48kg), which all but guarantees her spot at the 2012 Olympics in London. But her first big challenge in the sport was not on the mat. She had to defy her parents’ initial reproval when they heard that the youngest of their three daughters was taking up “a boy’s sport”.
“In the beginning my parents didn’t accept it. I was very young and they said I had to study and be more ambitious, think of a career for my future. They’d say it was a masculine sport, but I insisted until I managed to change their mind,” recalls Sarah.
Ironically, that little girl who would sneak out to practice after school without telling her parents now has the chance of being the first woman to win Brazil a gold medal.
In terms of results, judo is Brazil’s second Olympic sport, with 15 medals — behind sailing, with 16. But women have only been able to win Olympic medals in judo since 1992. So far, Brazil has one female bronze, earned by Kathleen Quadros in Beijing.
Sarah has become a celebrity in her hometown. She comes from Teresina, the capital of Piaui, one of the country’s poorest states. Her city is 2 500 km from Rio and Sao Paulo, where most of investments for sports tend to flow.
But Sarah is a girl with strong roots, and has stuck with her city. She travels often for competitions with the Brazilian Judo Team, but still lives with her parents and practices on a daily basis with the same coach, Expedito Falcao, who has been training her since her first year in the sport.
“Sarah is ‘made in Piaui’. All that she knows, she learned in this place, training on this mat,” says Falcao, pointing to the pitch behind him at the club where Sarah and other young athletes practice every evening from 8 to 10pm.
Falcao shares the pride for Sarah’s successful career with most of Piaui, whose 3 million inhabitants for once have something to boast about to the rest of the country — and to the world.
“Sarah is a reference to the state. Although we are far away from the main Brazilian cities and have many difficulties, she broke this barrier and showed that we can go further and be stronger,” he says.
Sarah has brought home 14 medals from the international judo competition circuit, including two bronzes from the last two World Championships, two World Junior Championship titles and three World Cup golds.
Her steps are closely observed by the local media in Teresina. While judo is usually dwarfed by huge pieces about football in Brazil’s national newspapers, her medals make the headlines in Piaui.
Sarah also has a crowd of young admirers. — BBC Sport.