Montréal, May 14, 2026 – Sisters Olivia and Abigail Flemming dazzled on day one of the Canadian Open Championships in Calgary, Alberta. In Thursday’s Nage-no-Kata competitions, the Nova Scotians captured gold medals in both the U18 and U21 divisions.

After claiming the top spot on the U18 podium with an impressive score of 339.5, the twins bested their own performance in the U21 group, racking up a total of 353.5 points.

“Our number one goal today was not necessarily to win. We mainly wanted to improve our own performances, and I think we accomplished that. Each time I stepped off the tatami, I felt like I’d performed a good kata. It was crazy,” said Abigail.

“Since we started out, so many people have helped us, particularly our senseis in Amherst and our family, who have believed in us from the very beginning,” added Olivia.

The Canadian Open Championships marked an important first step in the Flemming sisters’ journey, as they hope to begin competing internationally in the coming months.

“It’s one of the highlights of our careers. The next step for us is the World Championships. We’ve been training really hard, and I know we’re capable of representing Canada on our sport’s biggest stage. It would be a huge honour for us to compete there,” said Abigail.

The Flemming sisters also won a silver medal in senior Kodokan-goshin-jutsu, finishing behind Yvan Fournier and Pierre Pelletier.

In the other Nage-no-Kata categories, Kamiko Morris and Aria McInnes won gold in the U16 division with 207.5 points, while Yun Liang and Amin Moazeni took the top spot in the senior division.

Morris picked up a second gold medal in Ju-no-Kata, this time alongside Giulia Emmanuele, in the U16 category. Morris and Emmanuele later finished second in the U21 category, behind Valentina Millan-Rincon and Zoey McIntosh.

Triple medallists at last year’s Canadian Open Championships, Kelly Palmer and Wesley Enns successfully defended their three titles (Katame-no-Kata, Ju-no-Kata, and Itsutsu-no-Kata) in the senior division on Thursday.

Mario Pageau and Rémi Grenon-Turcotte claimed the top spot on the podium in Kime-no-Kata, while Avery Fam and Paul Teleki clinched the title of Canadian champions in Koshiki-no-Kata.

Matys Rainville and Leanna Au prevail in ne-waza

Matys Rainville had a perfect day in Calgary, dominating the over-81 kg division in ne-waza before capping off his impressive performance by winning the all-around title.

The Québécois ousted Joel Musungay in his division’s big final, thus advancing to the all-around competition. Earlier, he had defeated Mark Pivovar, Leon Bayer, and Lucas MacDonald before facing Musungay.

In the all-around contest, Rainville bested U18 finalist Andrew Thiessen of British Columbia, then clinched the final bout of the day against Saskatchewan’s Michael Yee.

“I always fight as if it were a gold medal match. But I didn’t want to spend the day thinking about the finals, so I only truly realized I had won at the end of the very last bout! I trained hard all year to prepare for the Canadian Open Championships. I’m here because I love it and I have fun doing it, and I’ve achieved my goals,” said Rainville.

Garrett Parker also advanced to the final round, thanks to his victory in the under-81 kg final.

On the women’s side, the crowd was treated to two match-ups between Leanna Au and Alyssa Tkachenko. Although the first, in the under-63 kg final, ended in Tkachenko’s favour, Au was able to avenge her loss later in the day when the two women faced off in the all-around final.

The British Columbian won that match, thus concluding her day with one silver medal and one gold medal.

“In the final match, I realized I was strong enough to keep up with her, and that maybe I could even beat her this time! That’s what allowed me to push through until the very end. I was injured recently, so just being back on the tatamis makes me so happy,” said Au.

Alicia Fiandor and Isabelle Gélinas, gold medallists in the under-63 kg and under-52 kg divisions, respectively, also advanced to the final four.

The Canadian Open Championships will continue on Friday in Calgary, with competitions in the veterans’ and U18 divisions.

The live webcast may be viewed at www.judocanada.tv.

Click here for all the results.