Kyra Gracie, from personal archives
For the first time in at least ten years Brazil’s most popular newspaper O Globo reminded its readers there is a Jiu-Jitsu World Championship about to happen somewhere.
The article signed by journalist Carol Knoploch was published yesterday on the sought-after four cover of the sports section. The perfect hook: the rivalry between black belts Kyra Gracie and Luanna Alzuguir in the female lightweight division. “I’m going to the Worlds to recover my lightweight title,” says Kyra in the article, which further mentions Beatriz Nogueira and Lana Stefanac as some of the favorites to take the absolute.
O Globo announced how the Worlds would start yesterday in Long Beach, and further highlighted the participation of Kayron and Kron, cousins who very well could face each other in the middleweight division.
The article made further mention of Kyra’s new passion: “These days she wants to be a role model for young folks. The apple of her eye is her eight-year-old nephew Rayron. He’s already a blue belt in judo and a yellow belt in Jiu-Jitsu.”