Canadian Beauchemin-Pinard moving up the ranks

Judo Canada will be sending a delegation of 11 athletes to the World Championships this year, and expectations for this group of judokas will be higher than ever.

One of the most promising and successful judoka of this year is Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard. The youngster has high hopes going into her first senior World Championships in the under 57 kg category. “I know I’m capable of winning a medal, and that will be my main objective going into the tourney. Obviously winning it all would be amazing, but it’s more reasonable to aim for a podium finish,” Beauchemin-Pinard said.

The 20-year-old athlete has gained a ton of confidence these past few months, after a move to a different weight class in May of 2013 propelled her to new heights. “It was a gradual process. I did a few senior competitions at the beginning of the year where I was pretty so-so. I had a lot of things to work on. It was around that point in the year that things really started to take off for me, and I began to reel off some top-notch performances.”

Things have definitely come together for the Quebecer, whose exploits this summer include a silver medal finish at the Junior World Championships. She recently returned home from her last tour with 3 gold medals, coming away victorious at the Pan-American Open in San Salvador, the Grand Prix of Mongolia, and the Russia Grand Slam. During her run, Beauchemin-Pinard twice defeated the American Marti Malloy, a bronze medallist at the London Games in 2012.

Coming into the biggest tournament of the season, she currently sits 9th in the world rankings of her category. Nevertheless, she knows that every match in Chelyabinsk will be fought tooth and nail. “It’s a World Championships, so there will be even more judokas than usual. Everyone will be there, so it will make the matches that much harder. I’m going to have to find a way to beat three really good athletes in a row,” explained Beauchemin-Pinard, who’s more than ready for the upcoming challenge.