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Rousey, Cohen and Mocco to Compete at Brazil World Cup This Weekend
By Nicole Jomantas // USA Judo // May 7, 2007
(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Three U.S. athletes will compete Sunday and Monday at the Brazil World Cup in Belo Horizonte. The first World Cup in South America, this event is scheduled to have at least 15 nations in attendance, including France, Cuba, Germany and Spain.
Ronda Rousey (Wakefield, Mass. / NYAC / USA Judo National Team FORCE) will compete in her second international event since moving up to the 70kg division in February when she won the Vienna World Cup. The recently crowned National Champion in the division, Rousey also will be facing many of the same competitors that will be in her division at the Pan Am Games (July 19-22) and World Championships (Sept. 13-16), both of which will be in Rio de Janeiro as well as the next Olympic Qualifier, the Pan Am Championships, May 24-27 in Montreal. Among the athletes in Rousey’s division will be Mayra Aguiar (BRA), a bronze medalist at the 2006 Junior Worlds.
Aaron Cohen (Buffalo Grove, Ill. / NYAC / Cohen’s Judo / 81kg), also a 2007 Pan Am Championships Team member, will have two Olympic medalists from Brazil among his toughest competitors. Flavio Canto (BRA) is a bronze medalist from the Athens Games who has won every Pan Am Championships and Games he has competed in since 2003 and earned a bronze medal in February at the Hamburg Super World Cup. Tiago Camilo is Brazil’s #2 in the division. A silver medalist at the Sydney Olympic Games as an 18-year-old at 73kg, Camilo later moved up to the 81kg division where he won the Pan Am Championships in 2005. Camilo competed in the first leg of the European Tour this year, finishing fifth at the Paris Super World Cup.
A bronze medalist at the 2006 Pan Ams in the 70kg division, this will be the first international tournament at 78kg for Katie Mocco (Glenville, N.Y. / NYAC / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center) since moving back up a division. Mocco recently finished third at the Senior Nationals, coming off an injury last fall. The favorite in the division will likely be reigning World Champion Yurisel Laborde (CUB), a bronze medalist in the Athens Games. Two-time World medalist Edinanci Dasilva (BRA) also will be a top contender in the division.
Competition will be heldin the men’s 60kg, 90kg and +100kg and women’s 48kg, 70kg and 78kg divisions on Sunday. The men’s 66kg, 73kg, 81kg and 100kg divisions and the women’s 52kg, 57kg, 63kg and +78kg divisions will be contested on Monday.
For more information, contact Nicole Jomantas, USA Judo Director of Communications and Media Relations, at 719.271.9937 (cell).
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