The second comeback of Christa Deguchi

Christa Deguchi loves cats and cats are supposed to have nine lives. She might not have quite as many lives but Deguchi’s been left for dead, competition-wise, twice already. And twice, she’s defied the odds to make a stunning comeback.

She made quite a splash as a teen, winning the Jeju Grand Prix in 2013 and coming in second place at the World Junior Championships in 2014. She was poised to do well in the seniors. But then things just came crashing down.

She was unfortunate enough to compete at -57kg for Japan during the era of Kaori Matsumoto, who was already a World and Olympic Champion by then. In 2015, Matsumoto won her second World title, thus sealing Deguchi’s fate.

Deguchi would not compete in another IJF event for the next three years. Then almost exactly three years since she disappeared off the IJF map, she re-emerged as a player for Canada.

Her first outing as Canada’s -57kg representative, at the 2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Slam, was a disaster. She crashed out in her first match. Next up, the 2017 Tokyo Grand Slam. There she crashed out in her first match too. It looked like her comeback was about to end just as it began.

Instead of straight ahead going for another big event, in February 2018, she took part in the relatively smaller Odivelas Lisbon World Cup and there, she won gold. After that it was win after win after win.

She won gold at the prestigious 2018 Paris Grand Slam, defeating home favorite Helene Receveaux in the semifinal and Tsukasa Yoshida of Japan in the final. Yoshida had taken over Matsumoto as Japan’s top -57kg fighter, so that victory must have felt sweet for Deguchi. She went on to win the PanAmerican Championships, followed by the Hohhot Grand Prix and the Zagreb Grand Prix.

Deguchi experienced a slight hiccup at the 2018 Budapest Grand Prix, losing in the quarterfinal to Olympic Champion Rafaela Silva of Brazil but won bronze, defeating another Japanese World Champion Udaka Nae. The 2018 Baku World Championships was another setback. She lost in the semifinal to her rival Yoshida of Japan but managed to salvage a bronze.

More setbacks followed in the form of the 2018 Osaka Grand Slam where she failed to medal. She also crashed out in the first match of the 2018 Guangzhou World Masters. Although her record was not spotless, and she seemed to perform less well towards the end of the year, it could be said that overall, 2018 was a good year for Deguchi. But 2019 would prove to be even better.

It started off with a bang, with Deguchi winning at the Paris Grand Slam again. There, she defeated her domestic rival, Jessica Klimkait, in the final. That win was followed by another gold medal at the Ekaterinburg Grand Slam, the PanAmerican Championships in Lima (where she got revenge on Silva of Brazil in the final), and the Montreal Grand Prix, where she again defeated Klimkait in the final.

The icing on the 2019 cake though was at the Tokyo World Championships, where she defeated home favorite – and her main Japanese rival – Yoshida, in the final. Her comeback was a complete success.

It was assumed by all and sundry that she would be Canada’s representative at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Although her teammate Klimkait was also riding high on the IJF World Rankings, Klimkait could never beat Deguchi at IJF events. By the end of 2019, these two had fought five time at IJF events, and Deguchi had won all five of those times.

The Covid-19 pandemic caused the Tokyo Games to be pushed to 2021 but that didn’t seem to affect Deguchi’s odds of being picked. In April 2021, she defeated Klimkait for the sixth time, at the Antalya Grand Slam.

Although it might seem obvious that Deguchi would be picked based on her 6-0 record against Klimkait, it must be said that Klimkait was doing well in the World Rankings, oftentimes coming in at No. 1.

The Canadian judo federation decided that the outcome of the 2021 World Championships in Budapest would determine who gets to go to Tokyo. Klimkait won it while Deguchi failed to medal. In one fell swoop, all her dreams of Olympic glory were smashed to pieces. Klimkait went on to win a bronze medal at the Tokyo Games.

As Klimkait grew from strength to strength, Deguchi seemed to flounder. Klimkait won a bronze at the 2022 Tashkent World Championships while Deguchi failed to medal there. It looked like her comeback was going to be short-lived and that Klimkait was miles ahead of her in the -57kg division. But then, Deguchi bounced back again.

She won gold at the 2022 Baku Grand Slam. The Tokyo Grand Slam was a disappointment as she crashed out in the first round but she rebounded with a vengeance winning gold in the final IJF event of the year, the exclusive World Masters in Jerusalem. There, she defeated her rival Yoshida of Japan in the quarterfinal, the rising star of South Korean judo, Huh Mimi in the semifinal; and Olympic silver medalist Sarah Leonie Cysique of France in the final.

Deguchi ends the year ranked World No. 1. She is definitely back again – and on top!