Antoine Valois-Fortier Named Judo Canada’s High Performance Director

With the Paris Olympic Games now behind him, Antoine Valois-Fortier is already looking ahead to the next Olympic cycle, which will take his protégés to Los Angeles in 2028. The national head coach will embark on this journey with a new set of responsibilities, as Judo Canada’s high performance director (HPD).

The miracle of Yeldos Smetov

In most Olympics, there are surprise winners. Sometimes, it's totally unexpected and a total unknown wins.

For example, in the 2016 Rio Olympics, very few people had at the time heard of Fabio Basile of Italy but he unexpectedly became the Olympic Champion at -66kg, defeating one of the favorites, An Baul of South Korea, in the final.

“It was important to me to head in that direction after the Paris Olympics. I wanted to take a broader, longer-term view of Canadian judo,” explained Valois-Fortier, on the subject of his new role. “It will be a challenge, and there will certainly be more management involved, but it will be up to me to get to know the job and make it mine.”

In addition to continuing to coach the national team athletes on a day-to-day basis, as he has done for nearly three years, the London Games bronze medallist will now apply his expertise far beyond the tatamis. He will assume leadership of all of Judo Canada’s high performance programs, while also setting high performance goals for the entire country.

“He will be responsible for all aspects of high performance, from human resources to financial management, as well as the implementation and running of our national high performance programs,” explained chief executive officer of Judo Canada Nicolas Gill, who has held the position of high performance director since 2008.

“His duties will increase significantly, but he’s at that point in his career,” he added. “He’s ready to take on more responsibility, and it was important to Judo Canada to bring youth and a breath of fresh air to the role of high performance director. The beginning of a new [Olympic] cycle is the ideal time to make the transition. He’ll be able to implement the guidelines he deems appropriate by changing or modifying what was previously put in place.”

Although he will officially assume his new responsibilities on September 3, 2024, Valois-Fortier will benefit from a transition period in the company of Gill, whom he considers his mentor.

“Like anyone else, he’ll go through a learning and adjustment period, but we all agree that he won’t go through it alone! He’ll be able to make his own way, and we’ll be there to help him along the way,” insisted the CEO.

After leading a team of seven judokas to the Paris 2024 Games—an Olympic journey that saw Christa Deguchi win gold in the under-57 kg category—Valois-Fortier says he is motivated to continue the work undertaken by his predecessor and colleague, because ultimately, a new Olympic cycle and new responsibilities won’t alter the main objective of Judo Canada’s high performance programs, which is to develop world-class athletes who can win medals for the country at Olympic and Paralympic Games, as well as at World Championships and other major international competitions.

“Nicolas and I have worked well together for several years. This will be an opportunity for me to add my own vision to what is currently in place. He’s the one who taught me about high performance. My goal now is to do my utmost to ensure Judo Canada continues to succeed on the international stage,” concluded Valois-Fortier.