Brazilian wrestling won its second gold medal in Pan American Games history. Giullia Penalber was champion in the under 57 kg freestyle category this Thursday, beating Canadian Hannah Taylor by tiebreaker after 6-6 in the two rounds in Santiago.

The fight started off in a more studied fashion with little action in the first minute, but a takedown from the Brazilian and an immediate response from the Canadian put the score at 2-2 before the end of the first round. In the second stage, the athletes went on the attack, but with Giullia’s momentary passivity, the score was 3-2 against the Brazilian. However, as soon as the fight resumed, the Brazilian scored a 4-point takedown and opened the score to 6-3. From then on, the Canadian’s strategy was to bring Giullia off the mat, a successful move three times, to bring the score to 6-6. But the Brazilian ended up winning gold, because in the tiebreaker criteria, she was the one who achieved the most valuable take down.

Giullia Penalber arrived at Pan 2023 as one of the main favorites in the category, but scared herself from her debut. In a fight valid for the quarter-finals, the American Xochitl Mota-Pettis led from the start 5-0. However, the Brazilian managed to land a tackle afterwards, effectively ending the fight. In the semi-final, Giullia beat Cuban Angela Alvarez. The start was bad, until the Brazilian managed to throw her opponent, managing to stop.

Brazil’s first gold medal was won at Pan 2015 in Toronto by Joice Silva in the under 58 kg freestyle category. In addition to these two gold medals, Brazil has six silver medals and seven bronze medals.