June 27, 2024
Seven judokas from Team Canada will find themselves on the tatamis at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The team includes Olympic bronze medalist Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard, world number one Christa Deguchi, her younger sister Kelly Deguchi and 2024 World Championships silver medalist Shady Elnahas.
Beauchemin-Pinard will be making her third appearance at the Olympic Games, having won bronze in the under 63 kg category at Tokyo 2020 after competing in her first Games in the under 57 kg weight category at Rio 2016.
In 2022, Beauchemin-Pinard won silver in the under 63 kg category at the IJF World Judo Championships, which represented the first medal of his career at a senior World Championships. She then won the gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. After having a difficult tournament at the 2023 World Championships in Doha, Beauchemin-Pinard won gold at the Abu Dhabi 2023 and 2023 Grand Slams. Tbilisi 2024. The 29-year-old athlete is currently ranked second in the world in her weight category.
“I see the Paris Games as the logical continuation of the hard work I have done in recent years. I want to savor every moment in the run-up to the Games, whether it’s the tough training sessions, receiving my Olympic gear or even the opening ceremony. My ultimate goal is to stay in the present moment at each stage of my journey and to perform to the best of my abilities when it comes to the big day,” says Beauchemin-Pinard.
A two-time world champion (2019, 2023), Christa Deguchi will be making her first Olympic Games at Paris 2024. Canada’s most decorated women’s judoka, Deguchi won silver at the 2024 World Judo Championships. IJF, which allowed him to remain at the top of the world rankings in the under 57 kg category. Among her other achievements, she also won the gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and won 11 Grand Slam gold medals, including three in 2024. She has reached the podium in each of her international competitions since the month of August 2023.
Deguchi narrowly missed Olympic qualification three years ago, when the women’s under-57 kg category was very competitive in Canada. The current world number two, Jessica Klimkait, won bronze in this event at Tokyo 2020.
Deguchi is one of the many siblings who will be part of Team Canada at Paris 2024. She will be accompanied by her sister Kelly, who will be at her first Olympic Games and who will be taking part in the women’s event in those under 52 kg. She won silver at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Shady Elnahas will be back to compete in his second Olympic Games, having finished fifth in the hotly contested under 100 kg tournament at Tokyo 2020, going through the repechage and then finding himself competing in the medal fight. bronze. In May, he won the first medal of his career at a World Championships, taking silver after having to withdraw from the final due to injury.
Elnahas won gold at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games. The 26-year-old has five Pan American Championship titles to his name. In 2024, he won silver at the Grand Slams played in Tbilisi and Antalya. He will enter Paris 2024 as a judoka ranked third in the world in the under 100 kg category.
“I’m particularly excited about these Games because we were in a completely different kind of bubble in Tokyo, after the pandemic. In Paris, I really want to live the competition to the fullest and make the most of every moment that passes. Also, I’m looking forward to performing to the best of my abilities, putting into practice everything I’ve learned and giving it my all to bring home a medal this time. What motivates me and ignites me is this adage that says you have to dare to be excellent. I’m going to have that in mind in each of my fights,” says Elnahas.
Arthur Margelidon will compete in his second Olympic Games in Paris, he who also finished fifth at Tokyo 2020, in the men’s under 73 kg weight category. Margelidon would normally have made his Olympic debut at Rio 2016, but a broken arm suffered two weeks before the Games forced him to settle for a spectator role. With more than 30 Grand Slam appearances under his belt, the 30-year-old has extensive experience in high-level competition. He won bronze at the Baku Grand Slam earlier this year before going on to win gold at the 2024 Pan American Championships.
François Gauthier-Drapeau will be at his first Olympic Games at Paris 2024 and he will take part in the men’s under 81 kg event. Currently ranked fifth in the world, Gauthier-Drapeau reached the podium in two Grand Slam competitions this year and won silver at the Pan American Championships.
Ana Laura Portuondo Isasi will also participate in her first Olympic Games, in her case following a remarkable return towards the end of 2023 after six years of absence. Competing in the women’s under 78 kg category, Portuondo Isasi won silver at the 2024 Pan American Championships. Earlier in her career, she won bronze at the 2014 Junior World Championships.
Team Canada has won seven Olympic medals in judo. The most recent came at Tokyo 2020 where Klimkait, and then Beauchemin-Pinard, became Canada’s first women’s Olympic medalists in the sport. Head coach Antoine Valois-Fortier won bronze at London 2012 while high performance director Nicolas Gill holds two Olympic medals.
The Olympic judo events will take place from July 27 to August 3 at the Arena Champ-de-Mars.
Team Canada judokas at Paris 2024
Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard (Montreal, QC) women’s under 63 kg
Christa Deguchi (Shiojiri, Japan) women’s under 57 kg
Kelly Deguchi (Shiojiri, Japan) women’s under 52 kg
Shady Elnahas (Toronto, ON) men’s under 100 kg
François Gauthier-Drapeau (Alma, QC) men’s under 81 kg
Arthur Margelidon (Montreal, QC) men’s under 73 kg
Ana Laura Portuondo Isasi (La Prairie, QC) Women’s Under 78 kg
