Canada has sent judokas to each Olympics since the sport debuted in 1964 in Tokyo — except for 1980 when Canada boycotted the Games in Moscow. Going into these Games, Canada had won five Olympic medals in judo — all by men. And despite sending an average of six judokas to the Olympics each year, it could never bring home multiple medals in a Games. Until this year.
On Day 3, Jessica Klimkait became the first Canadian woman to medal in Olympic judo, capturing bronze in the 57-kilogram division.
The next day Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard won bronze in the 63kg division, marking the first time Canada has won two judo medals in a single Olympics. "I remember going to Rio in 2016 and leaving so disappointed with my performance," a beaming Beauchemin-Pinard said mome
Two Upcoming Tournaments
A few weeks ago I wrote a Blog about the Summer Judo Nationals Upcoming in September. Online registration for this event is rolling in!
USA Judo Points for Juniors & Senior Elite Divisions
Summer Judo Nationals September 4th & 5th 2021 in Cape Coral, FL - hosted by John Paccione
At this event there will be Kosen Divisions which will attract BJJ practitioners, wrestlers and those that
want to compete in old style judo with less penalties and allowing more time to work on the ground.
Another regional event has been announced.
Garden State Judo Classic: September 11th & 12th 2021 in Wayne, NJ - hosted by Ramon Hernandez.
North Jersey Judo in Pompton Lakes, NJ has been running a Judo tournament called the Garden State Judo Classic since April of 2010. In April 19, 2020 would have been the 10 year anniversary for this event but due to the COVID19 Pandemic Tournament Director and owner of North Jersey Judo, Ramon Hernandez was forced to postpone the event until September 12, 2021.
With the past success of this event, USA Judo the national governing body out at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado has agreed to make the Garden State Judo Classic a USA Judo Point Event. This means anyone competing as a Junior or Senior Elite will have the opportunity to earn points if they place. That will help those competitors qualify to represent the United States first in the Pan American Region and beyond.
Point Events in the United States are usually reserved for USA Judo's Senior Nationals, Presidents Cup, US Judo Open and then other events are chosen depending on the history and success of the tournament. In the past the Garden State Judo Classic has drawn interest from competitors as far south as South Carolina and as far north as Massachusetts.
New Jersey also is a strong hold for Judo with a strong corps of clubs which is why many events are held in New Jersey when you look at events like the North East Judo Championships, Summer Slam, Princeton Judo Invitational to mention a few.
For this year's event we are already getting a lot of interest out of state but New Jersey seasoned competitors will show up to make sure the medals and the points stay locked up in New Jersey said jokingly by Ramon Hernandez. All kidding aside we will do our best to make sure we hit this event out of the park and for our competitors to have a great experience.
Awards and Prize Money:
- Medals for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Place.
- $150 Cash Prize Money for winners of the Female and Male Elite Divisions with 6 or morecompetitors to qualify for the prize money.
- $1000 GRAND PRIZE FOR SENIOR MENS GRAND CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION. To Qualify for this division, you need to win your Senior Men's Black Belt Elite Division. The Grand Championship Division will be played at the end of the event for $1000 CASH PRIZE.
Looking forward to seeing many of you in Florida next month!
-Gary Goltz