Rafael Costa

Rafael Costa is an athlete.

A short introduction to yourself?

I am an athlete passionate about what I do and I do my best to get what I want. I work hard until things happen, being happy is the most important thing!

How did you develop your fondness for your sport and at what age did you start?

When I was 9 years old and wanted to do some kind of wrestling, my mom’s friend recommended jiu-jitsu to me and I fell in love right away.

What is your style and what rank do you currently hold in (your sport)?

I was runner up in the adult blue belt world champion in 2021 and finished the year 5th in the featherweight world rankings. 2022 I got the purple one and now I’m back to competing.

Are you a member of any sports team? if not have you ever been?

I’m from Xmeir // Carlson Gracie Team

Describe your major highlights and achievements in sports in the past.

Vice World Championship 2021 Blue Belt Adult Featherweight!

Are there any short-term goals you’d like to accomplish in the next few months to a couple of years?

To be a Purple Belt World Champion in June!

Do you take sports as a profession or is it just a hobby?

I see it as a profession, I want to live from the sport!

What challenges have you faced in getting to where you are now? You can also share any injury story.

In October 2019, I got injured in a competition just because I stretched my leg too fast and ended up spraining it. I thought it was no big deal, I took the MRI and the result said I would have to operate on my knee (meniscus tear). I didn’t have health insurance, I stayed behind a public hospital to have an operation and I couldn’t get a place, I went to all the hospitals in Rio de Janeiro and nothing, the year passed and in March on MY BIRTHDAY DAY in another city I managed to get operated in Rio in the middle of March 2021, that’s when Lockdown came in Brazil and the operation was cancelled! In the middle of the year, I entered and managed to operate in OCTOBER 2021, ONE YEAR AFTER the accident, I had to stay a few months without leaving the house without stepping and without bending my leg, in January I returned to physiotherapy and in March 2021 I returned to training (1 year to operate, 1 year and 5 months to go back to training) I came back with determination and a lot of desire, 8 months later VICE IBJFF WORLD CHAMPION!

What motivates you most about your profession as an athlete?

Knowing that jiu-jitsu is renewed every day, every day I learn new things, that I need to improve in different situations and want to take it to life, this is my motivation to continue.

Do you have anything you want everyone to learn?

Resilience, not everything goes the way we want, not everything depends on us to conquer, sometimes things don’t have to happen, don’t go ahead speeding up the process, at the right time you will shine, you will conquer what you worked so hard for and if you need to go down the stairs, know how to go down with humility and then go up higher than where you had left off, then you learned to turn around, resilience…

What tournament or match you have won are you most proud of and why

When I was vice world champion after staying for more than 1 year and it took me 8 months to get what I wanted, I was vice with the taste of champion.

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