Canadian Arthur Margelidon grabs Panam title

Arthur Margelidon was crowned PanAmerican Under 73 kg champion this Friday at the continental championships in Havana. In his final match of the day, the Montrealer triumphed over Brazil’s Alex William Pombo da Silva with an ippon.

The first day of the Championships saw five other Canadians climb onto the podium. Ecaterina Guica (Under 52 kg), Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard (Under 57 kg) and Sergio Pessoa (Under 60 kg) all earned silver medals, while Stéfanie Tremblay (Under 63 kg) and Antoine Bouchard (Under 66 kg) each walked away with a bronze.

Margelidon, last year’s PanAm bronze medallist, defeated American Nicholas Delpopolo in the semi-finals. Earlier in the day, he had disposed of Mexico’s Samuel Ayala and fellow Canadian David Ancor, who ended the competition in fifth place.

“This is one of the greatest results in my career,” said Margelidon, who has all but ensured his spot at the Olympic Games with this performance. “The final was closely contested, and I took the first penalty, for a mistake I made going into the match. Then I got him to take a penalty, and after that I threw him to win the fight.”

“The PanAmerican Championships are a crucial step in the Olympic qualifying process, which is wrapping up on May 30,” said Nicolas Gill, Canadian coach. “Arthur put on an exceptional performance,” he added about his protégé’s latest victory, over the 2014 and 2015 PanAm gold medallist.

“With this gold medal, he is one step closer to the world’s Top 8, which would place him among the top seeds for Rio.”