It was in front of a noisy and hostile crowd that Shady ElNahas appeared in the under 100 kg final on Monday at the Pan American Games in Santiago. These passionate fans were all behind Chilean Thomas Briceno, the first representative of his nation to reach the final since the start of judo tournaments.
El Nahas, however, benefited from the encouragement of the crowd to succeed in defeating Briceno by ippon after a few minutes of combat, providing Canada with its first gold medal on the tatami mats in Santiago.
“Canada had yet to win a gold medal since the start of the weekend. I wanted us to come home with at least a first place and I am proud that it was me who was able to obtain it,” rejoiced Shady El Nahas.
After his ultimate victory, El Nahas was quick to stand up his opponent and raise his arms to the sky as a sign of respect. The crowd appreciated the gesture, giving one last wave of love to their local hero.
“I love it when the fans are against me. That motivates me even more! At the end of the day, I’m in Thomas Briceno’s house and it was important to show him respect. I wanted to show the crowd that their athlete is really good and that they can be proud of him. »
To reach the top of the podium, the 25-year-old Ontarian won his first two fights of the day by ippon, the first against the American Nathaniel Keeve and the second, in the semi-final against the Brazilian Leonardo Goncalves .
El Nahas’ victory is all the more impressive considering he was in action at the Grand Slam in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, four days earlier, where he earned a bronze medal. It was still important for him to brave the many hours of flying to participate in the Pan American Games.
“It really tired me having to do my weight twice so close together. I traveled over 30 hours to get here. Sleep tonight will do you good. It’s a big tournament and many athletes dream of participating in it. My team took really good care of me to help me not feel too tired,” he concluded.
Also in action on Monday, Marc Deschênes lost in one of the duels to obtain a bronze medal in the over 100 kg category. The Quebecer fell to the Brazilian Rafael Silva.
He previously defeated Ecuador’s Freddy Figueroa before being beaten in the semi-final by another crowd favorite, Chile’s Francisco Solis.
“I’m really disappointed to have lost in the semi-final. I knew the fight against Silva would be difficult. I tried to move him, but he’s much bigger than me and the game plan didn’t work. I went in at 200% intensity and tried to maintain that energy level for the four minutes. It was fun, but it didn’t go my way,” commented Deschênes after his last fight of the day.
For her part, Coralie Godbout (-78 kg) was not able to find the path to victory on Monday, losing in the curtain raiser against the Dominican Eiraima Silvestre, only to be defeated in the repechage against the Peruvian Camila Figueroa.
“Even though I lost my first fight, I think I fought well. I made a mistake and she scored a point. I wasn’t able to go back up afterwards. I’m disappointed to have lost in the repechage. My opponent was left-handed, like me, and I still have difficulty in this situation. Physically I am there, but it is at the mental level and positioning that I must improve,” shared Godbout.
It is therefore with a gold medal, two silvers (Julien Frascadore and Isabelle Harris) and two bronzes (David Popovici and Antoine Bouchard) that the Canadian team will leave Santiago.
A team tournament is on the program for the Pan American Games on Tuesday, but Canadian athletes will not be there.