Catherine Roberge’s judo Worlds ends with fifth place finish

Competing in an unusual category after a series of unusual events, Catherine Roberge managed to make her way to the bronze medal bout only to lose to Aksa Ablamskaya from Belarus, Thursday, at the Judo World University Championships in Moscow. The Beauport, Quebec native placed fifth in the event.

“The bout was going fine and I was able to go on the offensive,” said Roberge. “At one point, I attempted a leg throw and I felt head first. My arm got stuck in my opponent’s judogi and she did an armlock on me. I didn’t want to signal I was quitting, believing I could not lose such a bout. I took a long time before finally hitting the mat with my hand since my elbow was starting to hurt.”

Roberge had won three of her four previous battles, first against South Africa’s Sharie Laishey, before losing to Germany’s Jenny Karl.

“I was leading the bout until the last minute. It’s not much but I was very proud of myself since the German wasn’t your regular opponent, she was strong,” said Roberge laughing. “She managed to defeat me on the ground. I would have liked to win but it isn’t dramatic. Jenny was six-foot-two and easily over 78 kg.”

Granted a second life in the repechage, the Canadian defeated Ukraine’s Mariya Semenyuk and Sian Wilson from Great Britain, to make it to the medal bout.

Roberge, 22, was very satisfied with her performance. “I’m 74 kg right now and my opponents were averaging 80 kg on the day of the event. I’m not used lifting girls of that weight,” she said.

The Canadian had a wacky week so far in Russia. Upon her arrival, Roberge knew she had to lose three kilos to go under 70 kg, her regular weight category. Sadly enough, no gymnasium was available to train until Tuesday, three days later. On top of that, logistics issues needed to be resolved after her name and that of the other members of the Canadian delegation did not appear in the hotel’s record or in the organizing committee’s books.

“I had only one option left to lose weight which was to run in the streets of Moscow in minus-18 Celsius weather. The cold changed my mind and I went for the higher category,” she concluded.

On Friday, Isabelle Pearson, from Boucherville, Quebec is resuming action in the 63 kg event while Ontarian Michal Popiel is due to compete on Saturday in the 66 kg event.