Yvone Duarte was the first woman to achieve the rank of black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, a promotion led by Master Osvaldo Alves in October 1990. Not only the first female black belt in BJJ, Yvone was also one of the main forces behind the implementation of a female division in Jiu-Jitsu competitions back in 1985. In 1997 Duarte became the first female to start her own BJJ team and was later a fundamental part of the restructuring of Brasilia's Jiu-Jitsu Federation. In 2020 Yvone Duarte became the first female to achieve the rank of 6th degree in this sport, later raised to 7th degree - coral belt.