PanAmerican Judo in Montreal attracts 400 athletes

This week, Montréal will host a stage of the PanAmerican Judo Continental Cup at the Centre Pierre-Charbonneau. From Thursday, November 16 to Sunday, November 19, nearly 400 judokas from 25 countries will compete in the senior, junior and cadet categories of the event, which is open to athletes from every continent.

On Thursday and Friday, more than 200 athletes will compete in the junior and cadet categories, while on Saturday and Sunday, close to 200 more will take part in the senior tournaments.

In the senior events, Canada will be represented by an impressive contingent of 93 athletes: 62 men and 31 women. Among them will be recent PanAmerican Games medallists Isabelle Harris (silver, -63 kg), Julien Frascadore (silver, -66 kg), Antoine Bouchard (bronze, -73 kg) and David Popovici (bronze, -81 kg).

The tournament will be an especially poignant one for Bouchard—who finished fifth at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in the under-66 kg weight division—as it will be the final international tournament of his career.

For the other athletes, the event in Montréal will also have particular significance, as they will be able to earn points toward their world rankings in their respective age groups. For the senior athletes, those points may help them qualify for the Paris Olympic Games next summer.

“High-level judo competitions are an essential component of the athletes’ development and preparation. Hosting a PanAmerican Continental Cup in Canada provides our local judokas with an exceptional opportunity to discover international judo and, for some, to accumulate crucial points toward the world rankings,” said Nicolas Gill, Chief Executive Officer and High Performance Director at Judo Canada. “Competing in front of family, friends and the home country crowd is an invaluable experience that can spur the athletes to new heights.”

Prior to the four days of competition, Montréal will play host to several international participants, who will take part in a training camp at Judo Canada’s National Training Centre, located at the Institut national du sport du Québec, a stone’s throw from the Centre Pierre-Charbonneau.

The competitions will be live streamed on judocanada.tv.

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