Canada wins four medals at Judo Cancun Grand Prix
After two days of competition, Canada is leaving Cancun with four medals.
On Friday, Jessica Klimkait won her third Grand Prix silver medal in the women’s -57 kg class. Ranked 10th in the world, Klimkait lost only to the 2016 Olympic champion, Rafaela Silva of Brazil. Silva scored two waza-ari in the final to claim the Grand Prix title.
In her two previous trips to a Grand Prix final, Klimkait was defeated by her Canadian teammate, Christa Deguchi. Deguchi finished fifth in the 57kg class at the Cancun Grand Prix.
Jessica Klimkait of Team Canada faces Rafaela Silva of Brazil in the final at the Cancun Grand Prix. / Sabau Gabriela, International Judo Federation
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On Saturday, Rio 2016 Olympian Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard won silver in women’s -63 kg. Beauchemin-Pinard was undefeated until the final when she lost to Magdalena Krssakova of Austria.
Arthur Margelidon won Canada’s third medal in Cancun in men’s -73 kg. Margelidon had a tougher path to the podium after losing his final pool match to Marcelo Contini of Brazil, sending him to the repechage round. In repechage, Margelidon defeated Miklos Ungvari of Hungary and Eduardo Barbosa of Brazil to win bronze.
Team Canada’s Arthur Margelidon faces Barbosa of Brazil in the 73 kg bronze medal match at the Cancun Grand Prix / Sabau Gabriela, International Judo Federation
Canada’s fourth medal at the Cancun Grand Prix came in the women’s -70 kg class where Kelita Zupancic won bronze. After losing to eventual silver medallist, Gabriella Eillems of Belarus, Zupancic defeated Laura Vargas Koch of Germany in repechage to claim bronze.
The next stop on the Grand Prix circuit is in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from November 9th to 11th.
