The Pan American Championships silver medallist triumphed on home soil in golden score after Menezes, the London 2012 Olympic champion in the women's under-48kg category, was penalised for a third time for a false attack to receive hansoku-make.

The first bronze medal was won by Italy’s Odette Giuffrida, who beat Slovenia’s Anja Stangar.

She was joined on the third step of the podium by the United States’ Angelica Delgado after she defeated Croatia’s Tena Sikic.

There was disappointment for the host nation in the women’s under-48kg category final as Pan American Championships silver medallist Edna Carrillo narrowly lost to former Grand Slam silver medallist Gabriela Chibana of Brazil.

Carrillo, 25, fell to defeat after 23 seconds of golden score as Chibana countered the home judoka for a match-winning waza-ari score.

Chibana, who won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2012 before the event earned Grand Slam status, marginally outworked her opponent.

The US’s Katelyn Bouyssou and Hungary’s Eva Csernoviczki won the bronze medals at the expense of Great Britain’s Kimberley Renicks and Brazil’s Larissa Pimenta respectively.

The one other women’s competition held today was that in the under-57kg category as the US’s Marti Malloy claimed her third Grand Prix gold medal.

The London 2012 Olympic bronze medallist’s triumph was sealed when Panama’s Miryam Roper, the Ekaterinburg Grand Slam winner, pulled out of the final due to a knee injury sustained during her warm-up.

Austria’s Sabrina Filzmoser was one of the two bronze medallists after overcoming Germany’s Viola Waechter.

Anailys Dorvigny of Cuba was also a third-place finisher thanks to victory over Spain’s Jaione Equisoain.

In men’s competition, European Championship bronze medallist Francisco Garrigos of Spain won his first Grand Prix gold medal with a quickfire win over Brazil's Phelipe Pelim in the under-60kg final.

Garrigos shocked his opponent by working with high energy on the ground in the opening ne-waza exchange, forcing the world number 23 to submit to a hadaka-jime strangle after only 33 seconds.

The 22-year-old has now topped IJF medal podiums at Grand Slam and Grand Prix events.

Britain’s Ashley McKenzie beat the US’s Adonis Diaz in the first bronze medal match before Belgium’s Jorre Verstraeten defeated Israel’s Daniel Ben David.

The other men’s category, the under-66kg, was won by Israel’s Tal Flicker with a convincing win against Bucharest European Open silver medallist Alberto Gaitero Martin of Spain in the final.

The world number four, who claimed his first Grand Slam success in Baku in March, finally clinched Grand Prix gold with a resounding win by ippon as he held down his opponent for 20 seconds having already produced two waza-ari scores.

Bronze medals went the way of Mexico’s Nabor Castillo and Peru’s Juan Postigos as Israel’s Baruch Shmailov and Slovenia’s Andraz Jereb fell just short.

Action in Cancún is due to continue tomorrow when medals will be awarded in the women's under-63kg and 70kg categories and men's under-73kg and under-81kg divisions.

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