Canadian judoka Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard wins gold at Zagreb Grand Prix

ZAGREB, Croatia – Canada’s Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard won the gold medal in the women’s under-63-kilogram category Saturday at the Zagreb Grand Prix judo tournament.

The Montreal native was awarded gold after her final opponent, Colombian Anriquelis Barrios, withdrew with an injury.

Beauchemin-Pinard beat Brazil’s Ketleyn Quadros in the semifinals after scoring a waza-ari a minute and 20 seconds into the bout and hanging on for the win.

The Canadian booked her place in the semis with preliminary-round wins over Joanne Van Lieshout of the Netherlands and Gankhaich Bold of Mongolia after a first-round bye.

Beauchemin-Pinard, a bronze medallist at the Tokyo Olympics, rebounded after a seventh-place finish last week in Budapest, Hungary.

“It feels good to be back on the podium, especially after a tough week like last week,” she said. “I wanted to put it behind me quickly and make a strong comeback.

“I knew what had gone badly last week. Today, I really wanted to perform consistently to win the gold medal.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 16, 2022.