Edmonton, December 6, 2022 – Just a few days from now, Canada’s top judokas will hit the tatamis in Edmonton! The Elite Canadian Championships and the IBSA Pan-American Championships will take place this weekend at the Saville Community Sports Centre.

It will be the first time the Elite Canadian Championships are hosted by Alberta’s capital city. In the past, they have always been held in Montréal.

The top eight Canadian judokas in each of weight divisions will go head to head, in both the senior and U18 age categories. A total of 212 athletes will take part in the event, including 36 from Alberta—the second largest delegation after Quebec’s.

The U18 competitions will take place on Saturday, while the senior tournaments will be held on Sunday.

Local favourite Evelyn Beaton will be one to watch in the under-52 kg division. The athlete from Lethbridge has been very successful in 2022, earning 13 medals in 14 tournaments, including 11 gold.

In November, Beaton reached the top of the podium twice at the Quebec Open, in both the U21 and senior divisions. One week later, she won the Ontario Open in the U21 division.

Another one to observe will be Montréal’s John Jr. Messé A Bessong, the reigning cadet world champion in the over-100 kg category.

The Elite Canadian Championships were initially scheduled for January 2022, but had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The competitions can be viewed live on judocanada.tv. For more information about the event, click here.

Double feature

On Sunday, spectators will also get their fill of excitement at the IBSA Pan-American Championships, which are reserved for blind and visually impaired athletes. The six participating countries are Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, the USA and, naturally, Canada.

An entirely new format will be featured this year, with participants divided into two distinct categories according to their degree of visual impairment.

Quebec’s Priscilla Gagné (-57 kg), silver medallist at the Tokyo Paralympic Games and at the most recent world championships, will vie for a third Pan-American Championship title. She won the event in Calgary in 2018 and in Montréal in 2020.

Christina Mowatt of British Columbia (J1, -57 kg), fifth at the most recent world championships, will also be competing.

The Pan-American Championships will be live streamed on the ISBA Facebook page.

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada

For more information:

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