Montréal, May 10, 2026 – Coralie Godbout was the only Canadian in action on Sunday at the Grand Slam in Astana, Kazakhstan. In the under-78 kg category, the Québécoise battled all the way to a bronze medal final, where she suffered a narrow defeat after dominating the early minutes of the bout.

Photo IJF – Tamara Kulumbegashvili
Coralie Godbout

She thus ended the day in fifth place, the highest Grand Slam result of her career so far.

Facing Brazil’s Beatriz Freitas in the clash for bronze, 24-year-old Godbout took control of the action from the outset. However, a surprise throw by her adversary put an end to the match.

The only other time the two judokas squared off, at the Pan-American Championships in April 2025, Godbout won in overtime.

“In my opinion, Coralie was well ahead, but a slight lapse in concentration on her part during a takedown sequence allowed her opponent to end the match. Still, she can draw some positives from today, even though I believe she fully deserved a spot on the podium,” said Canadian coach Antoine Valois-Fortier.

Godbout set the tone early today, defeating Khuslen Otgonbayar of Mongolia and Ekaterina Tokareva of Kazakhstan to advance to the semi-finals. In that round, however, she lost to Anna Monta Olek of Germany, who later snagged the gold medal.

“Coralie had a great start to the day, and she was in fine form. In her first bout, she made an excellent throw, despite the fact that her opponent was in the lead. It’s never easy to come from behind like that. She then completely dominated her second bout, but in the semi-finals, she faced a tough challenge in the German, who is an excellent athlete,” added Valois-Fortier.

The Canadian judokas currently in Astana will remain in Kazakhstan for the next few days for a training camp, with the exception of Lowan Le Bris, who will return to Canada to compete in the Canadian Open Championships, which begin on Thursday in Calgary.

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada

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