Two of Canada’s judokas stepped onto the podium on the final day of the Pan-American Open in Buenos Aires, Argentina, including Keagan Young, who captured a gold medal at his first competition in over a year.

In February of last year, the Ontarian suffered a serious toe injury and, after months without a proper diagnosis, finally underwent surgery. While he was away from the tatamis, he spent a lot of time in the weight room, and eventually decided to move up a weight category.

Thus, Young celebrated his return to competition on Sunday by claiming the top spot on the podium in the under-90 kg division. During his final match, the Canadian found himself trailing behind his opponent Oleksandr Nyzhnyk of the USA. He did not let up, however, and ultimately succeeded in throwing Nyzhnyk not once, but twice, to seal the deal on his fourth career gold medal at a Pan-American Open.

“I had a lot of difficult fights today, especially the finals, but my coach did a great job of keeping me calm and helping me stay focused throughout the match,” said Young, whose most recent competition before today’s was the Pan-American and Oceania Championships in April 2025.

Earlier in the tournament, Young defeated Jose Luis Ortega Mendoza of Panama, Yuta Galarreta of Peru, and Alexander Knauf of the USA.

“After a long year filled with challenges, I’m just so grateful to be healthy and fighting like my old self again. I’d like to thank all the staff at Judo Canada for their support and all the hard work they put into my recovery. I wouldn’t have been able to do what I did today without them. I’m also very proud of myself.”

The 24-year-old judoka was not the only one filled with pride; his coach Janusz Pawlowski shared the sentiment.

“[Keagan] made quite an impression, winning four bouts by ippon, with different techniques each time. He remained focused throughout, and his technique was flawless. The final was spectacular. Although he already looked set to win after scoring a waza-ari, he was determined to increase his lead and secure the victory before the end of regulation time. A true fighting spirit!”

In the same weight division, Alec Garand came close to joining his compatriot on the podium, but ultimately finished fifth. After dispatching of Chile’s Sandro Botto, he beat Guillaume Gaulin in an all-Canadian match-up. However, he then lost to Nyzhnyk in the semi-finals and to Galarreta—who had earlier fought Young—in the next round.

As for Gaulin, following his loss to Garand, he moved on to the repechage, where he ultimately bowed out to Jeremias Fernandez of Argentina.

In the men’s under-81 kg division, Olivier Gagnon won a bronze medal. He began the day by disposing of Uruguay’s Thiago Ferrari Gonzalez and Venezuela’s Luis Pariche, thus securing his spot in the semi-finals. In that round, however, he was halted by Agustin Gil of Argentina, who later captured gold in front of the home-country crowd.

“Olivier performed very well. He fought hard and was aggressive in his techniques,” said Pawlowski.

Porter Guy also competed in the under-81 kg division, but was eliminated in the first round by Ivan Duarte of Argentina, who later won a bronze medal.

The only Canadian woman to compete in Buenos Aires on Sunday was Angelina McCristall, who advanced to the repechage in the under-48 kg category, but lost to Nemesis Candelo of Panama.

Ulaanbaatar Grand Slam

Two Canadians were in action on the final day of the Ulaanbaatar Grand Slam in Mongolia.

John Jr. Messé A Bessong kicked off the over-100 kg tournament with a victory by ippon over Khangarid Gantulga of Mongolia, after two minutes and 31 seconds of combat. In the next round, the Canadian—who was competing in only the fourth Grand Slam of his career—was up against Valerii Endovitskii of Russia, who is ranked twelfth in the world in his weight class. Endovitskii opened the scoring midway through the match, then doubled his lead to secure the victory.

“[Endovitskii] was a very tough opponent, but John nevertheless held his own. He’s still very new to the Grand Slam circuit, and he’s learning the ropes as he goes. He has a lot of talent. What he needs now is to keep gaining experience over the coming weeks, months, and years,” stated national team coach Antoine Valois-Fortier.

Coralie Godbout lost her first bout in the under-78 kg division to a local competitor, Nyam-Erdene Batsuuri.

“Coralie could have won, there’s no doubt about that. She had the potential to go further, but one thing she’ll learn is how to handle both her good days and her bad days on the road to the Los Angeles Olympic Games,” noted Valois-Fortier.