Claudia do Val is a professional Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner. She has won the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship three times, holding each title in a different category. She was ranked No.1 IBJJF competitor 2018/2019 season in the Gi, as well as No.1 IBJJF NoGi competitor for the 2018, and 2019 seasons. Do Val won the IBJJF grand Slam in 2018, which consists of the biggest tournaments of the year: European Championship, Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship, Brazilian National Championship, and the World Championship. Along with the success in the biggest Jiu jitsu competitions, she also holds over 60 gold medals from the smaller tournaments.
Biography
Cláudia do Val started her Martial arts career in 2006 when she started training judo under the influence of her younger brother. After a few years of practicing judo she decided to start Jiu Jitsu at the age of 21. Not having competed much in the lower belts she came up as a surprise to the bjj community when she showed up as a brown belt winning the European Championship and the World Championship in 2016. She was awarded her black belt in December 2016; by then, given her success in competitions that year she was believed to have equal success next year in the black belt competitions. Making her debut as a black belt in 2017 she won the European Championship, the Brazilian National Championship and the World Championship on the first try. That same year she was nominated for the Flograppling award of black belt female of the year. Following her success of the previous year, she had an even more successful 2018; where she won the IBJJF grand Slam, which consists of the biggest tournaments of the year : European Championship, Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championship,Brazilian National Championship and the World Championship, which means she also won for the second consecutive year the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation Black Belt World, the most important title in the jiu jitsu world. She also finished the 2017/2018 season as the 2nd in the Ranking IBJJF in the Gi. Still that year, for the first time, she competed in the Master Worlds tournament, having only become eligible that year to compete in the masters' division. The tournament is held in Las Vegas and happens at the same time and venue as the IBJJF Las Vegas Open. Do Val competed in all the categories both her weight division and the Absolute and in two days won 6 gold medals. Soon after Las Vegas, do Val was in Tokyo where she competed at the Asian Open Championship and took two gold medals for her weight category and Open Class. She went back to Brazil in time to win the São Paulo Open tournament, and set again on another trip for more tournaments in Europe, where she participated in 5 tournaments, in a different country each, and brought with her 20 medals. By December, she reached the end of the IBJJF NoGi Season as the No.1 in the Ranking. Again by the end of the year she was nominated for the Floggrappling award of black belt female of the year. Starting 2019 she set up a record winning a match at the Manila Open with 91 points on the scoreboard and submitting with a few seconds to go. She was invited for an interview with CNN Philippines for the program sports desk. She was also sought by the magazines Her World and Shape while in Singapore, for interviews. By June that year she won her third consecutive title at the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation Black Belt World, this time at the super heavy weight division, holding then 3 World Titles, each in a different weight category She also reached the end of the IBJJF competitive Gi season as the first in the ranking She also won for the second time the Master World Championship in Las Vegas. Like the previous year, do Val set on another trip to Europe, only this is time she participated in 10 tournaments, each in a different country, bringing back home 35 medals, from 2 months work. And for the second time she also finished No.1 in the ranking IBJJF NoGi season.
Claudia do Val began her engineering studies in 2010 at CEFET/RJ, but abandoned before graduating when she decided she wanted to do jiu jitsu for a living
Health
Claudia do Val suffered bullying in her younger years which lead to a series of body issues problems and eating disorders including bulimia. She openly spoke about her disorder in 2014 on her Facebook page when she decided to confront the illness and start her recovery. She suffered a shoulder injury in the beginning of 2016. She underwent surgery in 2018 and claims the injury was never really healed.
Sexual misconduct allegations
Claudia do Val made an allegation of sexual misconduct by her former Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach, in an interview which aired on 3 April 2020 on Paola Diana's YouTube Channel.
