Montréal, November 9, 2022 – Michelle Jorgensen’s run at the IBSA Judo World Championships came to an endd at the foot of the podium in Azerbaijan on Wednesday, when the Canadian finished fifth in the J2 under-70 kg category.

Jorgensen faced a tough opponent in her final match in Baku, where she was pitted against Ina Kaldani of Georgia in a battle for bronze. Kaldani, who won silver at the Tokyo Olympics, quickly scored a waza-ari, then followed up with an ippon to secure the win.

“The level of competition was very high in this category. The world’s top judokas were all here, and they all ended up on the podium,” said Canadian team coach Andrzej Sadej.

A total of eight judokas were vying for the title of world champion in Wednesday’s under-70 kg tournament.

Earlier in the day, Jorgenson fought Raziye Ulucam of Turkey. Despite a few advances on the ground, the British Columbian was unable to score any points and was defeated by ippon just over two minutes into the bout.

She then moved on to the repechage, where she faced Altantsetseg Nyamaa of Mongolia. Nyamaa quickly went on the offensive, but Jorgensen defended herself effectively and scored two consecutive waza-ari to claim the victory a few seconds later.

“Michelle had a strong finish in that fight. She surprised us by scoring twice standing up, whereas her specialty is usually ground work. In her bout against Ulucam, she could have done a bit more to get the fight onto the ground, but she missed her chance.”

Reigning Paralympic champion Alana Maldonado of Brazil took top honours in today’s tournament after defeating Ulucam in the big final. Ina Kaldani shared the third step of the podium with Khanim Huseynova of Azerbaijan.

On Tuesday, Priscilla Gagné earned the title of runner-up world champion in the under-57 kg weight class, while Christina Mowatt placed fifth in the same category.

“We’re leaving here with a silver medal and two fifth-place finishes. Our small team performed very well,” concluded Sadej.

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada

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