World, meet Brazil

Três ippons e um ouro para Clarisse Vallim: a história em inglês, no seu nível

A judoca carioca Clarisse Vallim, de 16 anos, venceu as três lutas por ippon e ganhou o ouro até 78 kg em Dakar 2026, o primeiro do Brasil. Leia a história em inglês, no seu nível.

The Fools 8 de novembro de 2026 6 min de leitura

Três ippons e um ouro para Clarisse Vallim: a história em inglês, no seu nível

World, meet Brazil · Edição #5

Boas notícias de brasileiros fazendo história, em inglês e no seu nível.

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Básico · A2 Frases curtas e palavras do dia a dia

Clarisse Vallim: a judo gold for Brazil

Clarisse Vallim is 16 years old. She is from Rio de Janeiro. On November 3, 2026, she won a gold medal at the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal.

It was Brazil's first gold at these Games. Clarisse is in the under 78 kg group. Athletes in this group weigh 78 kg or less.

She won all three fights by ippon. An ippon is the best score in judo. It ends the fight at once.

The final was very hard. There was no score until the last seconds. Then Clarisse held her opponent on the ground and won.

Clarisse started judo at 4. She said her goal in Dakar was to fight happy.

Palavras para guardar

gold medal	medalha de ouro
to weigh	pesar
fight	luta
score	pontuação, ponto
opponent	adversária, neste contexto
ground	chão
goal	objetivo

Your turn

What do you do just for fun? Complete the sentence: "I love ______ because ______."

O que você faz só por diversão?

Intermediário · B1/B2 Mais detalhes, como numa matéria de jornal

Clarisse Vallim wins Brazil's first gold at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games

Brazilian judoka Clarisse Vallim, 16, won the gold medal in the under 78 kg category at the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal, on November 3. It was Team Brazil's first gold at the Games, which bring together about 2,700 athletes from 207 countries until November 13.

Vallim, who competes for Flamengo, was the only Brazilian judoka in Dakar and won all three fights by ippon. She beat Arba Hasanaj, of Kosovo, in her first bout, then defeated Kayla Zorrilla, of Cuba, in the semifinal with an armlock.

The final, against Anastasiia Dobrovolskaia, of Russia, remained scoreless until the closing seconds, when Vallim pinned her opponent. She said she had felt at a slight disadvantage early on, but had stayed calm and taken advantage of the position on the ground.

A two-time world cadet champion, Vallim described representing Flamengo and Brazil as a dream. She said gold is always the goal, but that her aim in Dakar had been to fight happy. Next, she will compete at the Junior World Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Palavras para guardar

to bring together	reunir
bout	luta, combate
to defeat	derrotar, vencer
armlock	chave de braço
scoreless	sem pontuação
to pin / pinned	imobilizar / imobilizou
to take advantage of	aproveitar

Your turn

Clarisse said her goal was to fight happy. Describe an activity you do for pure joy, not for results, and explain how it makes you feel.

Descreva uma atividade que você faz por pura alegria, não pelo resultado, e explique como ela faz você se sentir.

Avançado · C1 O texto completo, com expressões e contexto

Three ippons and a cool head: how Clarisse Vallim won gold in Dakar

Some medals come from a single moment of brilliance; Clarisse Vallim's came from patience. On November 3, 2026, the 16-year-old judoka from Rio de Janeiro took gold in the under 78 kg category at the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, giving Team Brazil its first gold.

As the only Brazilian judoka in Dakar, she made the day count, winning all three fights by ippon, the score that ends a contest on the spot. After opening against Arba Hasanaj, of Kosovo, she got the better of Kayla Zorrilla, of Cuba, with an armlock in the semifinal.

The final against Anastasiia Dobrovolskaia, of Russia, was still scoreless in the last seconds. Vallim said she had felt at a slight disadvantage early on, but she kept her cool, waited for the ground position and seized her chance, pinning her opponent to clinch the gold.

Vallim, who competes for Flamengo, is a two-time world cadet champion, with wins in Sofia in 2025 and Guayaquil in 2026. She took up judo at the age of 4, and music runs in the family: her father is a samba musician and songwriter.

It had not been an easy season. She described 2026 as a very hard year, with competitions against older athletes. Even so, she said that while gold is always the target, her real goal in Dakar was to fight happy.

There is a lesson here for any language learner. Fluency, like a good fight, rarely comes from forcing the moment. It comes from staying calm when you feel behind, and enjoying the process enough to keep showing up.

Palavras para guardar

to make something count / made the day count	fazer valer / fez o dia valer
to get the better of / got the better of	levar a melhor sobre / levou a melhor sobre
to keep one's cool / kept her cool	manter a calma / manteve a calma
to seize a chance / seized her chance	agarrar a chance / agarrou a chance
to clinch	garantir, assegurar (uma vitória)
to take up / took up	começar a praticar / começou a praticar
to run in the family / runs in the family	estar no sangue da família / está no sangue da família
on the spot	na hora, imediatamente
to show up	aparecer, comparecer

Your turn

Does focusing on enjoyment rather than results make people perform better? Use an example from sport, work or language learning to support your view.

Focar no prazer, e não no resultado, faz as pessoas renderem mais? Use um exemplo do esporte, do trabalho ou do aprendizado de línguas.

Fontes

As falas de Clarisse Vallim foram adaptadas em discurso indireto a partir da reportagem do COB e da matéria do site do Flamengo.

Do ler ao falar

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