Canadian Olympic bronze medalist Antoine Valois-Fortier of Quebec City, Quebec retired at age 31 on Thursday according to the Canadian Press. Valois-Fortier placed third in the men’s 81 kilogram weight class in judo at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
At the time, Valois-Fortier became the fourth Canadian Olympic medalist in judo. He followed Doug Rogers of Truro, Nova Scotia, who won silver in the men’s heavyweight division at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Mark Berger of Winnipeg, Manitoba, who won bronze in the men’s heavyweight division at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, and Nicolas Gill of Montreal, Quebec, who won bronze in the men’s 86 kilogram weight class at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, and silver in the men’s 100 kilogram weight class at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. Valois-Fortier has since been followed by Jessica Klimkait of Whitby, Ontario, and Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard of Montreal, Quebec, who each won bronze medals for Canada at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021. Klimkait placed third in the women’s 57 kilogram weight class and Beauchemin-Pinard placed third in the women’s 63 kilogram weight class.
In addition to his Olympic bronze medal, Valois-Fortier won six medals for Canada in International Judo Federation Grand Slam events, and three medals at the World Judo Championship. He placed second at the 2014 World Judo Championship in Chelyabinsk, Russia, bronze at the 2015 World Judo Championship in Astana, Kazakhstan, and the 2019 World Judo Championship in Tokyo. Valois-Fortier plans to stay active with Judo Canada as a coach.
