Lucimar Medeiros, a former international judo practitioner was once considered to be the most technically accomplished grappling athletes in South America. In 2000, with hopes of using wrestling as a tool to help young Brazilian female athletes develop self-esteem, Medeiros made the transition from judo to the sport of wrestling.

Medeiros has since used wrestling as an avenue to takedown Brazil’s issues of violence, sexism, and racism. Through wrestling, Madeiros has provided Brazilian female athletes with the opportunity to embrace change by teaching lessons of hard work and dedication.

Through her extensive contributions to a relatively unknown sport in Brazil, Lucimar Medeiros became the first African-Brazilian woman supervisor of the wrestling program at São Paulo’s Training and Research Olympic Center (Centro Olímpico de Treinamento e Pesquisa or COTP) in Brazil.

For Medeiros' full story, click HERE.