Rafael Macedo (judoka)

Rafael Godoy de Macedo (born 15 September 1994 in São José dos Campos) is a Brazilian judoka.

Career
He moved to Porto Alegre in 2013 and started training at Sogipa, alongside some of the best judokas in the country.

In 2014, he won the gold medal at the World Judo Juniors Championships.

At the 2017 Pan American Judo Championships Macedo won a bronze medal in Middleweight (90 kg) category.

At the 2019 Judo Grand Slam Ekaterinburg (Grand Slam is the tournament that gives the most points in the judo rankings after the Olympics, the World Championships and the World Masters), Macedo obtained the bronze medal.

At the 2019 Pan American Judo Championships, Macedo won a silver medal in the Middleweight (90 kg) category, and a gold medal at the Mixed team.

At the 2019 World Judo Championships, Macedo won the first fight but was eliminated in the 2nd round. Representing Brazil in the mixed team, he obtained a bronze medal.

At the 2020 Pan American Judo Championships, Macedo won a silver medal in the Middleweight (90 kg) category, and a gold medal at the Mixed team.

Macedo represented Brazil at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

At the 2021 Pan American Judo Championships, Macedo won a silver medal in the Middleweight (90 kg) category.

Ranking 18th in the world, he participated in the 2021 World Judo Championships, where he won two fights and was eliminated in the round of 16 by Mongolian Gantulgyn Altanbagana. In the mixed team competition, Macedo won a bronze representing Brazil.

At the 2022 Judo Grand Slam Antalya, Macedo obtained the bronze medal.

At the 2022 World Judo Championships held in Tashkent, Macedo debuted with victory, but was eliminated by Olympic champion Lasha Bekauri in the round of 16.

At the 2022 Judo World Masters (second most important competition on the judo circuit, after the World Championship), Macedo won the bronze medal.

Ranking 11th in the world rankings in the 90kg judo category, Macedo competed in the 2023 World Judo Championships in Doha, Qatar. He won two fights, one of them against Krisztián Tóth, a Hungarian bronze medalist at the Olympics, but was eliminated in the round of 16 by Russian Mansur Lorsanov.

At the 2023 Pan American-Oceania Judo Championships held in Calgary, Canada, he won three fights by ippon and won, for the first time, the gold medal in the continental competition after obtaining silver in three previous finals.

At the 2023 Pan American Games, Macedo reached the final against Cuban Ivan Felipe Silva Morales and even forced two punishments on his opponent. Macedo was better in the fight, but, in an attempt to enter, he placed his head on the ground in a movement interpreted by the referee as irregular (hansoku-make, which is using the head as a defense of an entrance) and was disqualified, obtaining the silver medal. He also obtained silver in the Brazilian mixed team.

At the 2024 Pan American-Oceania Judo Championships, he won a bronze medal.

At the 2024 World Judo Championships, Macedo reached the round of 16 of the competition for the fourth time in a row, where he was eliminated by the Japanese Goki Tajima, who ended up being the tournament champion.