Silver for Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard
Montréal, February 28, 2026 (Sportcom) – Canadian judoka Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard won the silver medal in the under-63 kg category on Saturday at the Grand Slam in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Her fellow Québécois François Gauthier-Drapeau, however, saw his day come to a halt in the round of sixteen.
“I’m really happy because in my most recent competition in Tokyo last December, I lost in the first round, so it feels good to be back on the podium. I had my sights set on the gold medal, but the silver medal feels good too,” said Beauchemin-Pinard.
In the big final, Beauchemin-Pinard was defeated by Japan’s Narumi Tanioka, who scored an early yuko, then clinched the gold medal with an ippon as the clock began to wind down.
“With every passing minute, the Japanese competitor was getting faster and more decisive,” said Canadian coach Janusz Pawlowski.
“I thought I had some good holds, but I didn’t follow up with attacks quickly enough. I remained too still,” Beauchemin-Pinard said of her performance.
However, she is satisfied with the competition, overall. “I felt strong physically, and I was very focused during my bouts. I feel positive going forward.”
The Québécoise, who is ranked second in the world in her category, received a first-round bye before facing Jing Tang of China. She won that bout decisively, throwing Tang to the ground after a minute and a half of combat.
In the quarter-final, Beauchemin-Pinard once again disposed of her opponent expeditiously, scoring an ippon against Nina Simic of Croatia after only 45 seconds.
In the next round, the 31-year-old was pitted against a powerful judoka, Manon Deketer of France. “She was a very tough opponent,” said Pawlowski. In the final seconds of regulation time, Beauchemin-Pinard scored a waza-ari to secure the win.
Following the men’s competition, Gauthier-Drapeau (-81 kg) expressed disappointment with his day.
He began the tournament with a victory by ippon over Askar Narkulov of Kazakhstan, after five and a half minutes of combat.
In the round of sixteen, he was up against Abdul-Kerim Tasuev of Russia. The two judokas battled it out for more than seven minutes, and the match was only decided when the Québécois received a third shido, resulting in his disqualification.
“I think [Tasuev] had a very specific strategy going into the match, and it worked. I tried to do my job, but he was very much on the defensive. He was strategic and really played the penalties aspect. He took a tactical approach, and it wore me down and I lost on penalties. It’s too bad, but it’s all part of the sport,” said 28-year-old Gauthier-Drapeau.
According to Pawlowski, Gauthier-Drapeau was well-prepared, but he should focus on his speed and his decision-making as he trains for his upcoming competitions.
Three medals for Canada at the Junior European Cup
At the Junior European Cup in Móstoles, Spain, several Canadian judokas made their mark on Saturday.
Carla Van Zyl captured gold in the under-63 kg weight division after winning all five of her bouts today. In the big final, she prevailed over Lihi Boaron of Israel thanks to a yuko she scored early in the match.
“The day got off to a bit of a tough start for Carla. She seemed hesitant at first. But as the day progressed, she appeared more confident, and she clearly dominated her opponents. The semi-final and the final, which should have been her most difficult fights since they took place late in the day, ended up being the ones she managed most effectively and won most assertively,” noted Canadian coach Antoine Bouchard.
In the men’s under-73 kg category, Lowan Le Bris finished second after bowing out to Gigi Giunashvili of Georgia in the big final. He finished the day with four wins in five matches. “A few of his bouts were quite long, but each time, he managed to score a point,” explained the coach.
In the women’s under-70 kg group, Charlie Thibault won the Canadian delegation’s final medal of the day, securing the bronze.
In her second bout of the day—the quarter-finals—she bowed out to Chloé Jean of France, who later won the gold medal. In the repechage, however, the Canadian won two matches in a row to advance to the bronze medal final, where she defeated her compatriot Missy Jen Dorval Mbele, who thus ended the day in fifth place.
Among the other Canadians in contention, Loic Beaton (-60 kg) saw his run come to an end in the round of sixteen, and he finished his day with two wins and one loss. In the under-66 kg category, Sebastien Fecteau, Eliandre Barriault-Tremblay, and Jacob Element all ended the day with 1-1 records. Maia Thomson (-63 kg) also ended the competition with one win and one loss.
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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada
For more information:
Patrick Esparbès
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p.esparbes@judocanada.org