When her country Brazil hosted the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Zangrando overpowered U.S. judoka Valerie Gotay to claim her first and only career gold in the 57-kg division by the enchantment of her home crowd. Although she decided not to pursue her third Olympic bid, Zangrando added a silver to her career hardware in the same category at the 2009 Pan American Judo Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina, losing the final to Cuba's Yurisleydis Lupetey. The following year, Zangrando officially announced her retirement from the sport.