The IBJJF Atlanta Winter International Open took place on February 11th, 2023 and Joao Miyao put in an impressive performance in the masters light-featherweight division to take home a gold medal. Both Joao and his brother Paulo Miyao have been competing at the highest levels of the sport for what feels like forever, and they’ve showed no signs of slowing down in recent years. They transitioned to the masters division back in 2021 and they haven’t stopped since, with both brothers putting in solid work and winning titles at the highest stages available for that age group.
Joao Miyao wasn’t the only popular competitor who took to the mats at the IBJJF Atlanta Winter International Open either, as ATOS black belt Ronaldo Junior managed to win gold in the adult medium-heavyweight division. Junior’s teammate Dante Muschamp did well in the middleweight division but lost to veteran competitor Joao Rocha in the final. won gold in the middleweight division In the lighter weightclasses of the adult division. In the divisions below that, Art of Jiu-Jitsu managed to make the biggest impact. The team took both of the top spots in the light-featherweight division as Zachary Kaina-Kokobun and Hiryu Niwa stood next to each other on the podium, while Pablo Lavaselli won gold in the lightweight division.
In between those two divisions, Gustavo Estebam dos Santos won gold at featherweight despite facing some stiff competition in his division. There weren’t many female competitors in the black belt divisions at the event unfortunately, but Larissa Almeida defeated Heather Dunn twice in order to take home gold in both the super-heavyweight and absolute divisions. All in all, it was a great day of grappling for anyone in the area and the tournament attracted several top competitors looking to get some more experience in on the mats.
The full results from the IBJJF Atlanta Winter International Open, including the masters light-featherweight division that Joao Miyao won gold in, are available on the IBJJF’s official website.
