With the stunning return of Olympic champion Rafaela Silva after her doping suspension, Brazil won four of the five gold medals in dispute Saturday on the first day of judo at the Pan American Games.

On the tatami at the Contact Sports Center, Silva defeated Argentina’s Brisa Gómez by Ippon in the final of the 57 kilogram category.

This is the same medal he won four years ago in Lima, but which was withdrawn after fenoterol doping was confirmed. The Rio 2016 Olympic champion was suspended for two years and was unable to participate in the Tokyo Olympics which took place in 2021.

“Yes, it was revenge,” Silva told the Associated Press. “My goal here was to win gold and now I will focus on the team event.”

The woman raised in the “Cidade de Deus” (City of God), one of the most emblematic favelas of Rio de Janeiro, has already ensured her qualification for Paris 2024, where she has announced that she is aiming for another medal.

Argentina’s Gómez revealed she tore her hamstring before the competition. “With the money, I’m super happy. Rafaela is an incredible athlete, I admire her. I fought her several times and she beat me. But little by little, I disrespect him. I’m going to beat him.”

In the 48 kilo category, the Brazilian Alexia Nascimiento beat the Mexican Edna Carrillo, who after the fight burst into tears not so much because of the defeat but because of her little daughter, from whom she was separated while she was preparing to compete in Chile.

The 31-year-old Mexican judoka, bronze medalist at Toronto 2015 and Lima 2019, put her career on hold to become a mother. Several times broken by emotion, Carrillo left a moving message for her daughter, also called Edna, during the dialogue with journalists: “You know I did all this for you. I miss you so much, we’re almost going to see each other.”

“I gave it my all, I want you to know that I do this to set an example for you to always follow your dreams. “I love you very much,” he said.

The Brazilian Larissa Pimenta also won the 52 kilos against the Mexican Paulina Martínez, who, like her compatriot Carrillo, left the tatami in tears. “This is my first Pan American Games and I would have liked to be champion,” she later admitted.

“I gave everything, I died on the line. That’s what it’s about. In judo, at the American level, it’s complicated, there is Brazil, which is a world power,” admitted the 24-year-old Mexican.

Brazil’s fourth gold medal went to Michel Augusto in the 60 kilo final against Colombian Johan Rojas.

Brazil did not have a representative in the 66 kilo final, in which Venezuelan Willis García won gold by defeating Canadian Julien Frascadore by Ippon.

The champion is the son of Willis García, a judoka of the same name who medaled at the Pan American Games and seventh at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

“This medal means a lot to me because it is something I have been looking for for many years,” said the heir.

Judo will continue on Sunday with the finals of 63, 70, 73 and 81 kilos.