Just a few weeks later and she has arrived on a new podium and has propelled herself to a whole new level; Shirlen Nascimento is a world medallist!
We see the huge, powerful judo of Shirlen Nascimento and assume her character, expecting a loud presence, confident and commanding but in reality find a calm, unassuming, shy girl, someone just finding her way in the world of elite sport. She is here to learn and improve and simply do her best. But why has she not been seen until now? She’s 25, capable, exciting to watch…
“In 2019 I hurt the ligaments in my knee and so I stopped for three years for two surgeries. I came back to the tatami in 2022. For me this stop, which coincided with Covid, was good and I came back with a kind of explosion. I started training again. I fought in the national championship but the girls in the -57 kg category are so strong in Brazil: Jessica Lima, Bianca, Beatriz, no many great judoka.
This year I won a competition in Brazil, I won the gold, and that gave me a place at the Pan-American Championships. I was first place in the Panams too and then I went to the grand slam in Kazakhstan and won bronze.”
It’s been fast, very fast, but that doesn’t tell Shirlen’s story at all. “At first I thought I would stop judo completely after surgery. I thought I wouldn’t be able to do it any more because anyone I knew who had surgery similar to mine stopped, so I was sure. Originally I was training at a small local club and I changed club at the same time as my recovery was improving. In the new club I was training with stronger girls and I realised with them that I could get stronger and maybe come back."
"Six months ago I moved to São Paulo and again the club situation is stronger. I decided that this location and the team was the best for me; I felt their programme and the coach would be a good fit. I know now, after just 6 months, that this was a good decision.”
On the tatami, Shirlen has a special energy, perhaps most accurately described as ‘raw and sincere.’ “I do my best at every competition and I always approach it as if it will be my last. I don’t know about tomorrow or what the future will hold so I give every moment everything. Because of my injuries and what they taught me, I really don’t think about the future so much, I have to bring the fire in every moment.”
Her attitude is fresh and endearing partly because it’s so unusual to have such an unknown athlete reach a world podium. “I couldn’t imagine being on a podium with these judoka in Budapest. I have watched them and said ‘wow they are so strong,’ but I am with them now, now I believe!”
Thinking about goals is difficult for Shirlen Nascimento because she is always fully engaged with the ‘now’ but what she does know it, “I want to be happy and always fight in great competitions. I want more experience and to improve my judo. I think mostly in the present and am happy to be here with these great athletes. I want to get even closer to them.
I have great admiration for a lot of people but when I was in training camps in Brazil I took photos with them, athletes like Leonardo Goncalves, even as recently as last year. Here in Budapest he asked me if I remember when I asked him for a photo and seemed proud that I am now here with the team. I said yes, I remember, because I’m a fan of his and of judo.”
Considering her limited experience at the top level, there is actually a background which partly explains Shirlen’s easy assimilation with the team, showing that it is not quite as out-of-the-blue as it seems. “After the Tokyo Olympic Games, I was travelling to Rio a lot to train as a training partner for Rafaela Silva, at her club. A year before that Games, Rafaela told me I had a fire that she needs to train with and so I would travel backwards and forwards to Rio to work with her. I was staying at her house too and we became friends and so she really supported me a lot here."
"Two years ago I didn’t know the girls so well but because of Rafaela I learned a lot. She was teaching me about the opposition I would have around the world as it was her category for a long time. She’s very intelligent about judo too. She was really cheering for me in Budapest. I could hear her all day when I was fighting.”
Shirlen doesn’t know exactly what is next for her and must take time to digest her incredible world championship experience but whatever she does in the coming months and years, it is clear she will do her best and it will be a pleasure to watch her grow on the world stage.