Judo Canada has decided to restructure the tasks of its national coaching staff to help achieve the medal objective for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, in 2020.

“We have two years until the Games in Tokyo, and after the recent performances we’ve seen at the World Championships in Baku, in Azerbaijan, we had to rethink what happens in and out of the dojo. We need everyone to work as a team and to go in the same direction. I’m confident that we can achieve our goals and meet our own expectations and the expectations of others for our organization,” explained Nicolas Gill, CEO and High Performance Director for Judo Canada.

Going forward:

• Alexandre Émond will be working full-time at the National Training Center with the U18 and U21 national teams;
• Sasha Mehmedovic and Michel Almeida will be in charge of the Senior national teams;
• Jean-Pierre Cantin will work will the Junior and U23 national teams;
• Andzrej Sadej will be working with the para national team;
• Janusz Pawlowski will be the technical advisor and assist the other coaches; and
• Yuka Osumi, former national champion in Japan, will be at the National Training Center for an internship from December 2018 to August 2019.

All coaching staff reports to CEO/High Performance Director Nicolas Gill.

Next tournaments:

• October 27-29: Abu Dhabi Grand Slam (United Arab Emirates)
• November 16-18: The Hague Grand Prix (Netherlands)
• November 23-25: Osaka Grand Slam (Japan)
• December 1-2: Hong Kong Asian Open (Hong Kong)
• December 15-16: IJF World Masters (St. Petersburg, Russia)

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Written by Sarah Mailhot for Judo Canada

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