Montreal, January 13, 2018 — The first day of the Elite Nationals 2018 was held today for the first time in La TOHU, in Montreal. The best athletes from 9 provinces and territories are gathered this weekend to win one of the 30 national titles at stake.

The organizers and the participants are delighted with the facilities in which the athletes were able to perform today. The shape of the venue was also appreciated by the spectators, who had a circular view of the fights. “Wow! It really is a perfect venue to showcase our sport, and we are very pleased with our choice,” stated Patrick Esparbès, COO of Judo Canada.

After a full day of the tournament, during which the best cadets Canadian athletes were under the spotlight, the strongest province was, without a doubt, Quebec. The province is leading the raking with a total of 23 medals (7 gold, 7 silver and 16 bronze), far ahead Alberta (4 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze) and British-Colombia (1 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze).

One of the gold medal winners was Kaegan Young, from Ontario, who is fighting in a new category this year (-73kg). Last summer, the young Canadian team recruit won the bronze medal during the Cadet World Championship in Santiago, Chile, in the -66kg category. He won the final today against Nicolas Gagnon, from Alberta.

After the first day of the tournament, the three best teams in the ranking are:

• Club de Judo Shidokan (QC)
• Lethbridge Kyodokan Judo Club (AB)
• Club de Judo Métropolitain (QC)

The tournament continues tomorrow with the senior athletes, starting at 8:30 AM. The fights are streamed live on https://judocanada.tv/Live%20Streaming/ all day.

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Written by Sarah Mailhot for Judo Canada

Information:

Patrick Esparbès
Chief Operation Officer
(514) 668-6279
p.esparbes@judocanada.org