Canada had never won an Olympic gold medal in judo. That is now ancient history.
In her first appearance at the Games, 28-year-old Christa Deguchi won the final in the 57kg category, defeating Korea’s Mimi Huh.
Neither fighter scored a point in the four minutes of regulation time or in overtime. The duel ended, however, when Huh was assessed a third penalty, giving her opponent the victory. It appears that an illegal hold on Deguchi’s kimono sleeve was the cause of the blunder.
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
Christa Deguchi and her trainer Antoine Valois-Fortier
Deguchi reached the final in the same way, seeing her semi-final opponent, Frenchwoman Sarah Léonie Cysique, punished three times.
The Canadian, silver medalist at the most recent World Championships, thus gives the country its first title in judo history, and its first gold at the Paris Games.
No medal for Margelidon
Arthur Margelidon’s medal hopes also quickly faded.
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
Arthur Margelidon
The 30-year-old Quebecer had to win his repechage bout against Italian Manuel Lombardo, ranked fourth in the world at 73 kg, in order to get a chance to fight for bronze. However, their fight lasted less than a minute, as Lombardo scored an ippon on his opponent, who seemed shaken during the sequence.
Margelidon finished fifth at the Tokyo Games.