CESAR Taciana

Preferred techniques
Ouchi-gari (judoinside.com, 01 Jan 2021)

General
HUSBAND AND WIFE TEAM
She moved from Brazil to Portugal in 2013 and married her husband Diogo Cesar in 2014. The pair train together, travel to competitions together and both represent Guinea-Bissau. They have also opened their own club [Clube Atletico Alta de Lisboa] together in Portugal. Her husband did not qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, but he will be there as her coach. "We're on a four-year plan that will end in Tokyo with the Olympics. It is a wonderful period we are enjoying together without stressing too much. We train a lot, but we also enjoy a lot as a family. We do everything together. We practice judo together, the physical training and the travelling to competitions." (Instagram profile, 11 Jun 2021; guachazh.clicrbs.com.br, 09 May 2021; ijf.org, 22 Feb 2019)

SPORT AND MOTHERHOOD
In 2018 she gave birth to her son Gustavo. She returned to competitive action four months later with the plan of competing at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. "After I became a mother, I had to believe in myself because no one believed that a person aged 35 could be a mother and go back to competing at a high level. It seems that there is an attitude that the woman in sport is no longer worth anything after becoming a mother. It is very difficult to have a child and compete again. When the pandemic came, I had a tightness in my chest thinking that everything could go downhill from there in case of cancellation but, in the end, it turned out there will be an Olympics." (guachazh.clicrbs.com.br, 09 May 2021)

FROM BRAZIL TO GUINEA-BISSAU
In 2013 she switched nationalities from Brazil to Guinea-Bissau. She had dual nationality courtesy of her father who is from the African nation. She was raised by her mother and stepfather in Brazil, and found out about her natural father's heritage after missing out on qualification for the Brazil team for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Her mother revealed that her father was Oscar Suca Balde, a senior government figure in Guinea-Bissau who has held various roles including secretary of state for fisheries and fishery resources. "I met my father at the end of 2012, when he managed to gather all the siblings, and we spent the new year in Dakar, Senegal. It is the best thing that happened in my life." (judoinside.com, 10 Jul 2015; ojogo.pt, 08 Jun 2015; dw.com, 08 May 2013)

FUTURE PLANS
She plans to help support the growth of judo in Guinea-Bissau with her husband Diogo Cesar after they have both retired from competing in the sport. "I have a great desire to develop a project so that athletes can get out of Guinea-Bissau and compete internationally. There is also a lack of equipment in the country. There are many children who practise judo, but many do not have kimonos. Human interest exists, what's missing is structure." (Judo YouTube channel, 23 Feb 2019; dw.com, 09 Feb 2016)

She became the first judoka representing Guinea-Bissau to compete at the Olympic Games when she competed in the -48kg category at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. (SportsDeskOnline, 01 Jul 2021)