Owner of three Olympic medals, judoka Mayra Aguiar announces retirement

Judoka Mayra Aguiar announced her retirement from the mats. A three-time Olympic medalist, she used social media to announce the end of her career. In the text, Mayra thanks the affection she received during her sporting career and states that it was “as far as her body could take it”.

“I come here to inform you that I am officially ending my high-performance sports career. I went as far as my body allowed and, even when it no longer allowed me, I pushed for a few more years, because I am stubborn (lol),” she said in part of the statement (read below in full).

Mayra Aguiar won three bronze medals in three different Olympic editions. The first was in London-2012, then in Rio-2016 and in Tokyo, in 2021.

The Brazilian is also a three-time judo world champion in 2014, 2017 and 2019, in addition to having four other World Cup medals between 2010 and 2022, and also has four Pan-American medals, one of them gold.

Check out the statement released by Mayra Aguiar

“I come here to inform you that I am officially ending my high-performance sporting career.

I went as far as my body allowed and, even when it didn’t allow me anymore, I pushed for a few more years, because I’m stubborn (lol).

I am immensely grateful to my parents for introducing me to the sport and for giving me all the support I needed for this journey, which began when I was 6 years old. To my sister, who has been my training partner, coach, physiotherapist, counselor, and a thousand and one other things, always taking care of me and helping me in the most difficult times. To my love, who has lived this crazy life with me for 4 years and who, even in a short time, has already had an Olympic medal, a world title, surgery, many victories and defeats, always encouraging me with great affection. To my family and friends, who understood the distance and the absences, but were always in the crowd.

To all the coaches and professionals who worked with me, who dedicated themselves in every way, had patience and fought together in each battle. To my training colleagues, who shared experiences, fought hard, made me grow and made the hard daily life of an athlete much more fun. To my opponents, who didn’t let me settle and made the path much more challenging and exciting.

To all the places where I trained, especially Sogipa, which, since I was 11 years old, has been my second home. To FGJ, CBJ, COB, IJF, sponsors and supporters, who also believed in me and gave me the peace of mind and structure necessary to achieve my goals. To the media professionals, who told my story in such a beautiful and moving way. And to you, who cheered, cried, smiled and cheered at some point along with me on this journey, THANK YOU SO MUCH!

I finish this text with tears in my eyes and happy for them to flow, because they give me the certainty that I will forever carry these moments and these people with a lot of love in my heart.”