French Judo Blogs

Montréal, October 19, 2025 – On Sunday, Kyle Reyes got off to an excellent start in the under-100 kg category at the Grand Prix in Guadalajara, Mexico. However, the 32-year-old athlete’s day came to an early end when he lost his semi-final match. He and his coaches subsequently decided he would not compete for a bronze medal. Photo IJF, (c) Tamara Kulumbegashvili In his final bout of the day, Reyes was caught off guard thirty seconds into the contest by reigning Olympic champion Z... Read more

Montréal, October 18, 2025 – For the second week in a row,  Jessica Klimkait  stepped onto a Grand Prix podium in the under-63 kg weight category. After winning gold last weekend in Lima, the Ontarian took silver today in Guadalajara, following a hard-fought battle against Japan’s Haruka Kaju. Photo IJF / Tamara Kulumbegashvili  Haruka Kaju and Jessica Klimkait Despite the daunting task at hand, Klimkait showed no fear as she took on the defending title-holder, who occupies the num... Read more

Montréal, October 17, 2025 – On Friday, Canadian judokas Evelyn Beaton (-52 kg) and Heidi Quach (-48 kg) battled for bronze in their respective weight divisions on the opening day of the Judo Grand Prix in Guadalajara, Mexico. However, the two young athletes were defeated in their final matches, thus finishing fifth in their respective categories. Photo: IJF, Tamara Kulumbegashvili Evelyn Beaton (in blue). “Although they’re young and are just starting to compete on the senior circu... Read more

Montréal, October 15, 2025 – Canadian judokas won four bronze medals at the Panamerican Judo Open in Lima this Tuesday. Quebecers Coralie Godbout (-78 kg), Justin Lemire (-73 kg), Olivier Gagnon (-81 kg) and Guillaume Gaulin (-90 kg) will all take home bronze medals from the one-day tournament held in the Peruvian capital. However, despite the hardware haul, team Coach Antoine Bouchard believes the medal count could have been higher. Photos – Confederación Panamericana de Judo “It h... Read more

Coralie Godbout  had an excellent day on Monday, earning a bronze medal in the Under 78kg category on the final day of the Grand Prix in Lima, Peru. This is Team Canada’s third medal in Lima, following  Jessica Klimkait’s  gold medal on Sunday, and  Julien   Frascadore’s  silver medal on Saturday. In the bronze medal match, Godbout defeated Brazil’s Karol Gimenes to secure her place on the third step of the podium. After scoring a waza-ari early on in the bout, the Quebecoise continue... Read more

Jessica Klimkait  earned herself the gold medal in the Under 63kg class, Sunday at the Lima Grand Prix in Peru. Klimkait’s gold makes for quite a welcome back, after having been away for six months. In the final, Klimkait got the better of Brazil’s Nauana Silva, which paved the Canadian’s way to the top step of the podium. “At the beginning of the day, she was a bit nervous since it had been six months since she’d been in a competition, but honestly, she had a really great day, and... Read more

Julien Frascadore  won his very first Grand Prix medal at the Lima, Peru Grand Prix on Saturday. The Canadian judoka took silver in the Under 66kg category after a grueling final that lasted over nine minutes. The Quebec-based athlete was competing in his first tournament since April, and faced 2024 European Junior Champion Valerio Accogli (Italy) in the final. Frascadore resisted each of Accogli’s early aggressive attacks, but overtime ultimately proved necessary. In the end, the Ita... Read more

Judo Canada announces the departure of Sasha Mehmedovic on October 17, following more than ten years of dedicated service to the organization. Sasha joined Judo Canada’s national coaching staff in September 2013, shortly after retiring from competition. Over the past decade, he has played a pivotal role in the development and success of Canadian judo. Judo Canada extends its sincere gratitude to Sasha for his outstanding contributions to the sport and wishes him every success in his fu... Read more

Montréal, October 8, 2025 – The Canadians faced a daunting challenge in round one of the team event at the Junior World Judo Championships in Lima, Peru, on Wednesday. The members of coach Antoine Bouchard’s team were eliminated early in the competition by Neutral Athletes competing under the banner of the International Judo Federation. Photo IJF (c) Sabau Gabriela On the men’s side, Fahd Fitane (-73 kg) and John Jr Messé A Bessong (+90 kg) put up solid fights against their opponent... Read more

Montréal, October 7, 2025 – Four Canadian athletes were on Tuesday’s roster for the final day of individual competition at the Junior World Championships in Lima, Peru. And although none of them secured a win, coach Antoine Bouchard nevertheless views the day in a positive light. Yehor Paladii (-100 kg) put up the toughest battle as he sought to dominate Bogdan Petre of Romania. Paladii opened the scoring with a waza-ari, but his opponent managed to even the score. When Paladii attempted... Read more