Tocantins takes gold in international martial arts competition in the south of the country – Tocantins Connection

Tocantins once again stands out in international competitions, this time the state marked the Curitiba Summer International Open IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship event, which took place at Ginásio do Tarumã, in the capital of Paraná, on the 11th and 12th. in Palmas, Wesley Rodrigues (Lelinho) and Anderson Valadão, won gold and silver medals, respectively, and the victories are a milestone for Tocantins, which for the first time has winning athletes in the competition.

The Curitiba Summer International Open IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu is organized by the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Confederation (CBJJ), brought together more than 3 thousand athletes from Brazil and other countries. The Open takes place in several states of the country and the world, and as in the others, the edition in Curitiba counts the sum of scores to project athletes in the World Cup dispute, which this year takes place in the second half.

It was in this context that black belt in jiu-jitsu, Wesley Rodrigues, Lelinho, won first place in the no-gi modality (No-Gi), where the athlete won three fights, bringing home the gold by winning the fighters Jorge Nelson (bronze) and Carlos Yago (silver), both from Santa Catarina. The representative from Tocantins also fought in the gi modality, winning the silver medal, in the Master black belt category, up to 82 kg.

“It is an unprecedented achievement, yet another international event in my career. I never fought in the Open, an event that the Federation holds in several states and cities around the world, which attracts a huge audience, mainly from South American countries, and winning a silver and a gold in the first event is in fact a result very important”, celebrates Lelinho.

Another representative of the state to climb the podium was the athlete Anderson Valadão, who came second in the Master 2 category, superheavyweight up to 100kg, white belt. Anderson faced Thiago Brigola, from Santa Catarina, in a close dispute, winning the silver medal. “My opponent was a judoka, so for me it was a little more difficult, even so, I thought the result was excellent, because it was perfect to be on top of the podium”, says Anderson, who started in martial arts about a year and a half ago .

For the athlete, the silver medal has a lot of representation, but the young man guarantees that jiu-jitsu has yielded many other good fruits. “I started martial arts to control depression and anxiety, I had no intention of competing. Next month I’m leaving for Ireland, where I was invited to study and train jiu-jitsu, this due to my results in competitions”, comments the silver medalist, who also made it to the podium last year.

The athletes represent the Caio Terra Association team, and the victories are very significant for Tocantins, which has been growing in martial arts. Wesley reinforces that all the dedication in training is having an effect and that the incentive helps a lot for the sport to grow, since the athlete was able to pay for the trip with the help of sponsorship from the Tocantinense Institute for Obesity Treatment – ITTO, Cadmis – Soluções Contábeis and Administrative and Grow Supplements.

“There were six fights and I almost won gold in the gi division as well. Training is focused on competitions, our goal now is the Brazilian Nationals and these results are great, they show that I’m on the right path”, concludes Wesley.

Wins in other competitions

The fighters already have a history of competing in Brazil. Both athletes competed in November at the 2022 Sport Jiu-Jitsu World Championship, in São Paulo. On that occasion, Anderson won a silver medal, in the adult white belt category up to 100kg, and Lelinho won a bronze medal, in the adult black belt category, up to 88kg, being the only black belt from Tocantins to climb on the podium at the Sports World Cup, being This is the biggest jiu-jitsu event held by the Brazilian Sports Jiu-Jitsu Confederation (CBJJE).

At Tocantins Wesley Rodrigues was elected, by the Tocantinense Jiu-Jitsu Federation (FTJJ), best black belt of 2022, for his performance in competitions last year, thus occupying first place in the state ranking.