Judo | Japan at the heart of Canadian ambitions

Even before Kelly Deguchi’s quick defeat on Sunday, his family had already won.

Outstanding achievement: Tom Taylor and Yukina Deguchi’s two daughters, Kelly and Christa, compete in the same Olympics, in the same discipline.

Kelly was in tears, however, after her first-round bout against reigning Olympic champion and four-time world champion Uta Abe in the under-52 kilograms. Her heartbreak from a 57-second loss, combined with broken English, left her extremely fragile in the mixed zone.

“My father, my mother, my aunt, my grandmother, my grandmother’s sister, her daughter, my boyfriend and Christa’s boyfriend are here,” she said, counting on her fingers so as not to forget anyone.

In his clan, as well as in the Canadian team, it was known that a miracle was going to be necessary to survive the first fight. “It was the worst draw you could have, all categories combined,” said coach Antoine Valois-Fortier after the fight.

However, the Deguchi family did not move to France from Japan without ambition. Now, everything rests on the eldest of the family, Christa, who will fight this Monday.

Double world champion in 2019 and 2023 in the under 57 kilograms, it is the 28-year-old athlete who has the best chance of shining within the Canadian delegation.

Deguchi will be competing in her first Games. In 2021, Jessica Klimkait represented Canada in this category. However, since each country gets only one ticket per weight category, only the best of the two at the world championships, held in May, would be able to take part in the Olympic adventure. Deguchi, ranked first in the world, won silver. Klimkait, ranked second, won bronze.

“When Christa didn’t qualify for Tokyo, everyone was sad,” her younger sister recalls. “This year, everyone is happy.”

Even if the two sisters are not “the best friends in the world [et] “Always hugging each other,” she says, miming the hug gesture, Kelly insists that they “constantly support each other.”

After all, “she’s my big sister and I love her.”

Hopes

So what are the Canadian team’s expectations of Christa?

“Olympic champion,” replies Valois-Fortier, on the eve of the fights.

Given his record, marked in 2024 by seven podiums, including three victories, “we can have the greatest hopes. At least one medal, if possible, gold,” continues the bronze medalist at the London Games in 2012.

Still saddened by her fate after four minutes of the interview, Kelly found herself smiling again when the possibility of her sister kissing Olympic gold was raised.

“I hope she wins gold. That would be the best thing possible. That would be wonderful. I’m already very proud of her. For me, she’s already the best judoka in history and she believes in herself. So do I.”

The daily life

The Deguchi sisters were born in the Land of the Rising Sun in the late 1990s. That’s why they still live and train there, far from the national team, which is based in Montreal.

Their father, Tom Taylor, is from Winnipeg, so his two daughters can wear the Canadian kimono.

Of course, living more than 10,000 kilometers away from their coach is not ideal. But it is the choice they made. “Sometimes it is complicated, because Antoine cannot see us every day. We send him videos and we try to organize meetings as often as possible,” says Kelly.

Her cell phone, like her sister’s, no doubt, is filled with short videos of her in action. Modern technology, at least, allows them to work as they wish. Otherwise, they would have had to settle in Montreal as Klimkait did, by the way, she who is originally from Ontario.

The qualities

If Valois-Fortier holds Christa Deguchi in such high esteem, it is first of all because “she must be one of the athletes who has the most skills, pure talent.”

He uses the term “phenomenal” when he talks about his ability to throw his opponents to the ground.

Then, the 34-year-old Quebecer also mentions “his strength of character.”

“In her race against Jessica to get here, she was able to respond to the pressure like no one else,” he said.

The coach wants to be reassuring on the eve of the day for which Deguchi has prepared her whole life. “She’s still calm.” She’s even “stressed-cool.” And we imagine that’s a good sign. Especially if it allows her to offer Canada its first gold medal in judo history.