"It's a new story I want to build": Clarisse Vallim chases world cadet title repeat

Reaching the top is hard. Staying there may be even harder. A year after claiming the world cadet title, Clarisse Vallim returns to judo's biggest stage with fresh perspective. From August 20-23 in Guayaquil, Ecuador, the Flamengo judoka will face the World Cadet Championship and pursue a back-to-back title.

Clarisse is part of Flamengo's three-strong contingent representing Brazil at the competition. Alongside the reigning world champion, the rubro-negro will field Manuela Maia, arriving on the back of a standout season, and Henrique Bahiense, who makes his World Championship debut.

In 2025, Clarisse arrived at the World Championships seeking to write her name into history. This time, the narrative has shifted. Last year's gold brought recognition, confidence—and new responsibility. She now enters the mat as a world champion.

"The pressure definitely increases. People know me now, I'm a marked target, so everyone wants to beat the world champion. But I think my hunger to win grows too, because it was the best feeling of my life. It was amazing to see my friends, my family, and the people who helped me get there all celebrating. That gives me even more drive to go back and be champion again," Clarisse said.

The experience of standing atop the podium has also reshaped how the young Flamengo judoka approaches the challenge. Knowing she's capable doesn't diminish the difficulty of repeating the feat. Rather, it deepens her awareness that when competition begins, everything must be built anew.

"People know I can do it and I know I can do it, but when you get there it's different. You have to make it happen. I feel greater responsibility, but greater desire too—to get there, feel that sensation again, and see the people I love happy," she said.

Between one World Championship and the next, Clarisse has identified growth that extends beyond technical skill. After tasting the top of the podium, she has focused even more intensely on what she considers fundamental to continued success: mental strength.

"Since last year's Worlds, what I've developed most is my mindset. Achieving something once is wonderful, but the hardest thing for an athlete is staying at the top and keeping your head right to be at the top. Judo technique improves with time and training, but what I really had to develop was my mental edge and patience."

Her 2025 triumph remains vivid in memory. Clarisse admits she thinks of it almost daily—what she calls the happiest day of her life. Yet as she prepares to compete at the Worlds again, the champion knows her past medal won't decide the fights ahead.

"I think about last year's World Championship almost every day. It was the happiest day of my life. It was a beautiful story I built with the people who helped me and my team, but it's in the past now. This year is a new story I want to build. I have to make it happen again."

And it's this new story that Clarisse wants to finish once more at the top of the podium. Beyond adding another gold to her record, a back-to-back title would carry singular meaning: proof that she can traverse the entire journey to the World Championships once again.

"I'm someone who only believes what I see. I think it will confirm that I truly pushed myself again, that I lived through this process and won it, because it's exhausting. You think about quitting many times—every athlete does. It would confirm I overcame the process of qualifying for the Worlds, the training cycle. I'd see that I truly exceeded my own limits."

In Guayaquil, Clarisse won't step onto the mat merely to repeat 2025. That first-title story is already written. Now, more experienced, better known to rivals, and as she puts it, mentally sharper, the rubro-negra begins writing her next chapter.