Olympics Rio 2016: Menezes loss dashes Brazil hopes of early first gold

To make matters worse, Menezes was visibly in pain as she injured her elbow and spent several moments lying on the tatami after she lost to Mongolia's Urantsetseg Munkhbat in the repechage round before slowly exiting the arena.

"She has a dislocated right elbow. She has been taken to the hospital of the Olympic Village," said Manoela Penna, press attache of the Brazilian Judo Confederation.

Menezes was considered a favourite to win the women's -48kg category before a raucous crowd at the Carioca Arena 2 who chanted "Ole, ole, ole, Sarah, Sarah," and waved the Brazilian flag.

But Menezes, the world number four in her weight class, struggled to gain much traction all day. She edged past Belgium's Charline van Snick in her first match, before losing to 17th-ranked Dayaris Mestre Alvarez of Cuba on a single penalty in an otherwise scoreless match in the quarter-finals.

Brazil is placing high hopes on its judo team to boost its medal haul in Rio after it took home four medals in the sport at the 2012 London Games.

The hosts and powerhouses France and Japan are the only countries fielding a full team of 14 judokas.

Brazilian Felipe Kitadai, who took bronze in London, also finished went without a medal on Saturday, losing in the repechage round in the men's -60kg.