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| Rafaela Silva won Brazil's first gold medal of the Rio Olympics and Neymar congratulated her |
Lionel Messi and Neymar have both congratulated their respective compatriots Paula Pareto and Rafaela Silva after both athletes won their nation's first gold medal at the ongoing 2016 Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro.
Argentine 30-year old Judoka Paulo Pareto won the country's first (gold) medal of the ongoing games after she beat South Korea's Bokyeong Jeong in the final of the Women's 48kg category in Judo. Lionel Messi was impressed with her achievement and was delighted to see her win the gold medal, the Barça forward took to his Facebook page on Sunday to congratulate the Judoka, praising her hard work.
“Congratulations to La Peque (Paula Pareto's nickname) for winning the first gold medal [of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games] for Argetina. It was worth many years of effort! May it be the first of many [medals] for our country in these Olympics,” Messi enthused. She becomes the first woman to win a gold medal at the Olympics for Argentina.
Brazilian 24-year old Rafaela Silva also won her country's first gold medal of the Olympic games in Judo after defeating World Number 1 Sumiya Dorjsuren in the Women's 57kg on Monday.
Rafaela was disqualified in the early stages of the 2012 Olympic games in London, while she was emotionally down, Neymar consoled her and provided her motivation to prepare for the 2016 Rio Olympics with a message on his official twitter page reading: “I know how you feel. Now, it is to be at the side of the people who love you and practice so as to realize your dream in the Rio 2016 Olympics,” and Rafaela thanked him for his support.
After her gold medal win on Monday, Neymar took to twitter to congratulate her and remind her of the motivation he gave her four years ago with a photo of the 2012 tweet, there was a caption reading: “As I told you in 2012!! Congratulations on the medal and the realisation of your dream. #judo.”
Lionel Messi is an Olympic gold medallist after the Barcelona talisman helped his Argentina team beat Nigeria in the Men's football category of the 2008 Olympic games held in Beijing.
Neymar missed out on the gold medal honour by a hair's breadth after his Brazil team lost 2-1 to Mexico in the 2012 London games. The winger has a chance to get the gold as he leads Brazil in the Rio Olympics although they have started poorly after registering two draws in their first two games of the tournament.
