Montréal, October 19, 2025 – On Sunday, Kyle Reyes got off to an excellent start in the under-100 kg category at the Grand Prix in Guadalajara, Mexico. However, the 32-year-old athlete’s day came to an early end when he lost his semi-final match. He and his coaches subsequently decided he would not compete for a bronze medal.

Photo IJF, (c) Tamara Kulumbegashvili

In his final bout of the day, Reyes was caught off guard thirty seconds into the contest by reigning Olympic champion Zelym Kotsoiev of Azerbaijan.

“Although he knows [Kotsoiev] pretty well, it was over very quickly. Kyle seemed pretty shaken up by the loss, so we decided not to risk sending him into a fight for third place,” explained Canadian coach Antoine Valois-Fortier.

Reyes had earlier posted a quick win in his opening bout against Jared Causse of the USA; he followed that up with another victory in a marathon match against Anton Savytskiy of Ukraine.

“Kyle got off to a great start today. Last time he fought the Ukrainian, he lost, but today he was the victor. He was on the right track; this was just a minor setback for him,” added Valois-Fortier.

Also on Sunday, Coralie Godbout, who won a bronze medal last weekend in Lima, finished the day with one win and two losses in the under-78 kg weight class. After defeating Vicky Verschaere of Belgium in her first bout of the day, she lost to both Kurena Ikeda of Japan and Inbar Lanir of Israel, despite valiant performances against both opponents.

“It wasn’t a bad day for Coralie. She posted a nice early win against the Belgian. When she competes against the top athletes in her category, we always see great things from her. [Ikeda] is an excellent judoka, and [Lanir] is a former world champion. Coralie had a tough draw, and although she lost those two bouts, she performed well overall.”

Guillaume Gaulin (-90 kg) lost his first and only bout of the day to Alex Barto of Slovakia.

Jessica Klimkait was the only Canadian to win a medal at the Guadalajara Grand Prix, capturing silver in the under-63 kg division on Saturday.

“To be honest, [this weekend] was a bit of a mixed bag. Jessica’s medal was definitely a plus, and a few of the athletes finished fifth, but I was expecting a bit more. Now it’s time to go home and get ready for the next series of competitions, including the Pan-American Open in Montréal, which our athletes are really looking forward to,” concluded the coach.

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada

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