Seventh Place for John Jr. Messé A Bessong
Montréal, February 8, 2026 – Judoka John Jr. Messé A Bessong (+100 kg) delivered Canada’s best performance at the Paris Grand Slam on Sunday, finishing in seventh place. The other Canadian in action, Coralie Godbout (-78 kg), saw her run come to an end in the round of sixteen. She concluded the day with one win and one loss.
Photo : Kulumbegashvili Tamara
Messé A Bessong, of Laval, got off to a strong start in the over-100 kg weight class, securing two wins before losing his quarter-final match to Kanta Nakano of Japan, who later advanced to the finals. He then bowed out to Artem Zolotukhin of Russia in the repechage.
Messé A Bessong’s first opponent of the day was Galymzhan Krikbay of Kazakhstan. Their hard-fought battle came to an end when Messé A Bessong scored a waza-ari thirteen seconds into overtime.
In his next round, against Kanan Nasibov of Azerbaijan, the 21-year-old scored a waza-ari in the second half of regulation time. His opponent then turned up the heat, but the Québécois succeeded in maintaining his lead, despite a few technical errors.
In the quarter-final, Messé A Bessong was defeated by Nakano, who quickly took control of the bout and made several attacks. “[Nakano] just performed better, and he was more committed in his actions,” noted Canadian coach Janusz Pawlowski. Nakano ultimately sealed the deal with a second waza-ari in the final ten seconds of the match.
In the repechage, Messé A Bessong was pitted against Zolotukhin, who won by ippon in Golden Score.
It was Messé A Bessong’s second appearance at the Paris Grand Slam, and he achieved a better result than in 2024, when he was eliminated in the round of sixteen.
According to his coach, the judoka has all the talent and skills he needs to excel at the highest levels, with just a little more discipline and training.
Godbout defeated by eighth-ranked judoka
In the women’s under-78 kg competition, Coralie Godbout also got off to a good start, clinching her first win by ippon ninety seconds into her match against Shu Huei Hsu Wang of Chinese Taipei.
Next, the athlete from Stoneham, QC, was up against China’s Zhenzhao Ma, who is ranked eighth in the world. The two judokas battled fiercely for more than six minutes.
“It was a bit difficult, because I don’t often get to fight against girls who are taller than me. It takes me a bit of time to adapt,” Godbout said of her opponent, in an interview with Sportcom.
The bout came to an end when the Québécoise received a third shido and was disqualified.
Both Godbout and her coach were somewhat baffled by the penalties she received. “Did I deserve the shidos I received? Some may say yes, some may say no. As for me, I can’t say for certain either way,” explained Godbout.
“From my point of view, it was a close fight. In Golden Score, they should just let them fight it out and wait for one of them to score,” stated Pawlowski.
Nevertheless, Godbout was proud of her final match, especially given the particularly high level of competition in her category. “I was a contender, and it could have gone either way. Unfortunately, I lost that match, but it was a good fight, and that tells me I belong in a tournament like this one.”
“With a little more patience and hard work every day, they both have what it takes to reach the top here, in one of the biggest competitions,” said Pawlowski of the two Canadian athletes.
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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada
For more information:
Patrick Esparbès
Chief Operating Officer
Judo Canada
(514) 668-6279
p.esparbes@judocanada.org