Canada earns four medals in judo at Pan American Championships in Mexico

GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Four Canadians earned medals at the Pan American Judo Championships on Saturday, including one gold medal.

Shady El Nahas, defended his Pan American under-100 kilogram title with a victory over Brazil’s Rafael Buzacarini in the final.

El Nahas reached the final after defeating fellow Canadian Kyle Reyes in the semifinals. Reyes would go on to win a bronze medal after defeating American Nathaniel Keeve.

“I’m really happy with this medal, which should help me move up in the international rankings,”El Nahas said.

“I really wanted to defend my title, and this is the first time I’ve won gold medals at the same tournament twice in a row. This is a really big day for me,”

Two other Canadians, Zachary Burt and Marc Deschenes, also won bronze medals Saturday.

Burt, in the under-90kg division, defeated fellow Canadian Mohab El Nahas to earn his third-place finish. Deschenes, in the over-100kg group, defeated Ecuador’s Freddy Figueroa to claim his bronze medal.

“It felt great to be competing again, but this definitely wasn’t my best day physically,” Burt said. “I had some trouble in each of my bouts, but I’m glad to have made the podium.”

Canada won seven medals at the championship, trailing only Brazil. Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard, Ecaterina Guica, and Antoine Bouchard each won gold medals in their respective events Friday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 22, 2020.