In a stunning turn of events at the Paris Olympics, Brazilian judoka Daniel Cargnin, a bronze medalist from the 2020 Games in the under-66kg category and the 2022 World Championships, was eliminated in the first round. Competing in the under-73 kg category, Daniel Borges Cargnin faced off against Akil Gjakova from Kosovo.

Despite Gjakova’s recent controversies, including a domestic violence accusation, he proved to be a formidable opponent. Cargnin, unfortunately, could not overcome the challenge and suffered a defeat, ending his Paris Olympics campaign with a surprising and disappointing first-round exit. As per Olympics.com results, Cargnin lost the round 10-0 in the 73 kg category.

This is Cargnin’s debut Olympics, and unfortunately, it did not work out. This has saddened Brazilian judo fans, who were eagerly waiting for the debutante to bring back a gold medal for the country. Cargnin started judo at the age six, encouraged by a school friend. Training at an academy in Canoas, he caught attention early and, by 13, was invited by coach Antônio Carlos Pereira, or Kiko, to join the Sogipa team. 

At 17, Daniel Cargnin faced a big decision: soccer or judo. He had an offer to train at Sogipa, a top judo club in Rio Grande do Sul. Since 2015, Daniel has competed with both junior and senior Brazilian teams. As a junior, he won several titles, including the world championship in Zagreb, Croatia, in 2017. This victory hinted at his future success in adult competitions. In recent years, Daniel has consistently performed well, staying in the top 15 of the world rankings in his weight class. At the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, he earned a silver medal after losing to Wander Mateo from the Dominican Republic.

Before that, he won gold and silver medals at the Pan American Championships and had strong showings at the Grand Prix. He fought through the repechage but lost to An Baul, the Olympic runner-up from Rio 2016, finishing in fifth place. Since then, he hasn’t reached the podium in major events but remains a top competitor, consistently ranked in the Top 15. The 2020 Olympics were marked by challenges, including a coronavirus outbreak among hotel staff hosting the Brazilian judo team. This happened after, during the last Olympics, 8 staff members at a Japanese hotel that hosted Brazil’s Olympic judo team tested positive for coronavirus.

The health and sports officials at Hamamatsu City said virus screenings were done before the 30 members of the judo delegation arrived there. Yoshinobu Sawada, a sports official in the city, said, “Only those who have proof of a negative test are working.” That year, the team secured two Olympic bronze medals. This year, they already have a tally of two medals: one silver and one bronze. However, Daniel Cargnin’s loss proves that a gold medal is hard to come by. This left Brazilian judo supporters with a mix of anticipation and disappointment.

Brazilian judo supporters left disappointed 

Judo is a beloved sport in Brazil, and Daniel Cargnin’s performance against Akil Gjakova in the first round has deeply saddened the nation. One fan wrote about their disappointment that Brazil is out of the Judo race and how it is the worst time possible since it’s early in the morning in Brazil. They wrote, “05:45 in the morning and Brazil has already been robbed in judo.”

Another expressed similar disappointment, as, due to the time zone differences, Brazilians are waking up to events already underway in Paris. They wrote about the sad news, saying, “We started the day with Daniel Cargnin being robbed in judo, omg.” One other fan was especially heartbroken, as Brazil was out of an event already and the Olympics had just started. They expressed their sadness by writing, “Cargnin was eliminated in the first fight. What a shame! The first disappointment we have in judo.” 

However, another fan expressed some hope. He stood firmly on his ground, saying that though Team Brazil has taken a hit, they will continue to strive for the best. They wrote, “and we started the day like…Daniel Cargnin was doing well, he ended up taking two Waza-Ari from the athlete from Kosovo and was eliminated in the first fight. We continue!” It seems that the early morning news flooding in from France of Daniel Cargnin’s loss has hit people hard. Naturally, everyone likes to start their day on a positive note, but it was possible this time. One fan expressed this sentiment by saying, “Damn Brazil has already started the day losing in judo.”

Another reflected on their sadness and regret that the Brazilians could not wake up to victory at the Olympics by saying, “Oh my… Brazil has already started the day taking a beating in judo.” Several others expressed how they are unhappy that no matter how well Brazilians are in judo, they have been consistently missing first-place finishes. They pointed this out in the comments, saying, “always robbing Brazil in judo which I hate.” 

It seems that the Paris Olympics dreams for Brazilian judo athletes have come to an end; however, there is LA 2028 to look forward to.