Montréal, June 26, 2026 – Laurence Biron, who won gold last week at the Pan-American Open in Buenos Aires, continued her winning streak on Friday, once again claiming the top spot on the podium in the under-63 kg division, this time at the Pan-American Open in Santiago, Chile.

In the big final for her weight category, the Canadian found herself up against Creymarlin Valdez of the Dominican Republic. Biron quickly launched her attacks, scoring a waza-ari in the opening moments of the bout and following up with a yuko shortly thereafter. The 22-year-old judoka then sealed the deal with a second waza-ari.

“Earlier in the day, I took some time to analyze [Valdez’s] fighting style, so I had a pretty good idea of how I should attack. My game plan was to take control and not allow her to attack. I knew I was at an advantage on the ground, so I made the most of it, and that allowed me to win the bout,” explained Biron.

The Québécoise had not faced any major challenges earlier in the day, receiving a bye in the first round, then defeating Chile’s Allyson Quevedo by ippon to secure her spot in the finals.

“Before our fight, I knew nothing about my opponent, so my plan was to remain patient and take it one sequence at a time until there was an opportunity for me to attack.”

This marks Biron’s fourth consecutive medal at a continental open, a streak that began with a silver medal in Tunis in February 2025.

“I’m really happy with how consistent I’ve been, especially in my first two competitions. And last week’s gold medal really boosted my confidence, so I came here with the intention of repeating the feat,” she concluded.

In the same weight category, Catherine Toshkov captured a bronze medal after defeating Iara Figueroa of Argentina. Earlier, the Québécoise had lost her semi-final match to Creymarlin Valdez.

In the men’s under-66 kg division, Luke Thomson beat David Fica of Chile before bowing out to Diego Calix of Argentina. In the repechage, he bested Michael Vargas of Chile before wrapping up his day on a high note with a victory over Jacob Yang of the USA to claim the third spot on the podium.

In the same weight class, Tyler Collin was halted by Peru’s Mateo Condor in his first match of the day.

Also in Santiago, Frédéric De Cardaillac competed for bronze in the under-73 kg category. However, he lost to Tomas Hernandez of Chile and finished fifth.

Earlier, De Cardaillac had defeated Karim Adarvez of Argentina and Ronal Gonzalez of Panama, before being bested by Alfredo Valdivieso of Ecuador in the semi-finals.

On Saturday, Keagan Young will attempt to capture a second consecutive medal in the under-90 kg group, after winning gold in Buenos Aires last week. Guillaume Gaulin and Alec Garand will compete in the same weight division.

Olivier Gagnon, who clinched a bronze medal in Argentina, will join Porter Guy in the under-81 kg bracket.

Evelyn Beaton limited to one bout at the Qingdao Grand Prix

Evelyn Beaton was the only Canadian in action on day one of the Qingdao Grand Prix in China. In the under-52 kg weight category, Beaton lost her only match of the day to Russia’s Iuna Gerasimova. Gerasimova, who had taken an early lead in the scoring, secured her victory with an ippon in the final seconds of regulation time

Justin Lemire (-73 kg) and François Gauthier-Drapeau (-81 kg) will hit the tatamis in Qingdao on Saturday.