Montréal, July 5, 2026 – Artem Neyolov was Canada’s only contender for a medal on day two of the Junior European Cup in Prague, Czechia. The Ontarian ultimately finished fifth on Sunday, following a heated battle against Brazil’s Silas Costa in the under-81 kg weight category.

Following his semi-final loss to Azerbaijan’s Mehdi Abbasov—who went on to win gold—Neyolov turned his attention to the bronze-medal match, which went two minutes and 45 seconds into overtime before Silas scored an ippon to secure the victory.

“It’s definitely a disappointing outcome, but [Artem] had a very, very good day. His opponent in the semi-finals was very strong. In that last match, both the athletes had good chances to score. Unfortunately, it was the Brazilian who managed to come out ahead,” said coach Antoine Bouchard.

To begin his day, Neyolov dispatched of France’s Redouane Zalagh, Switzerland’s Suleyman Richner, and Kazakhstan’s Myrzatay Kydrybay in back-to-back bouts, thus advancing to the semi-finals. Neyolov’s match against Kydrybay also went into overtime.

“Artem has travelled to Europe several times this year, and he’s experienced numerous long competition days, sometimes fighting five or six times a day. That can be very demanding, but nevertheless, he gave his all until the very last second,” added Bouchard.

In the same weight class, Sarmat Kibizov lost both his bouts today.

As for Matthew Molchanov (-90 kg), he won his first bout against Ronald Valkovic of Slovakia, but lost to Alex Carta of Italy in the next round.

Franck David Moussima Ewane Elouti (-100 kg) lost his only match of the day.

On the women’s side, Laurence Gagnon and Mélody Grenier posted records of two wins and one loss each on Sunday in the under-57 kg division. In the same weight class, Valeria Kostrovets and Nicole Daria Manaila were eliminated in their opening bouts.

In the under-52 kg division, Rima Bourihane posted one win and two losses, just like her compatriots Gagnon and Grenier. Addyson Tamura (-52 kg) bowed out to Roza Agumava of Germany in her first and only match of the day.

“We have several very young athletes who fought very well, despite their losses. They may have deserved better outcomes in some of those close fights, but the experience they gained this weekend will prove very valuable,” concluded Bouchard.

All the athletes who competed in Prague will remain in Czechia over the next week to attend a training camp, before they head to Paks, Hungary, for another Junior European Cup.